6a Agnus Dei

Why 'Paukenmesse' or 'Kettledrum mass'? We know that this nickname owes its origin to the kettledrums of the last movement, which announce themselves not with a loud attack as in the celebrated 'Surprise' symphony, but with a rhytmically inexorable solo of several bars in the Agnus Dei. Even today we are still affected by the urgency with which Haydn gave voice to his plea for peace within and without in this mass resplendent with kettledrums and trumpets. Soloists: Ruth Ziesak, soprano, Ingeborg Danz, alto, Christoph Prégardien, tenor and Michel Brodard, bass. Classic CD: 'Graceful, powerful'.