Haydn: Theresienmesse; Symphony No. 95

Choir: Clothworkers Consort of Leeds
Orchestra: Leeds Haydn Players
Conductor: Chris Pelly
Chorus Master: Bryan White

Haydn: Symphony no. 95 in C minor
Haydn:  Mass in B flat, "Theresienmesse"

The Clothworkers Consort of Leeds is joined by the Leeds Haydn Players for this concert of music by the great Classical composer Joseph Haydn. In the first half of the concert the orchestra will perform the Haydn's symphony no. 95. A typically charming and innovative work, it is the only one of the twelve "London" symphonies to be composed in a minor key.

Following the interval the choir will join the orchestra for Haydn's Mass in B flat major, named after Maria Theresa of the Two Sicilies, empress consort of Francis II. This was one of six masses that Haydn composed while in the patronage of the Esterházy family. Composed the year after the Nelson Mass, this work contrasts the militaristic nature of the Nelson Mass with more mellow and sombre passages, though with equal measures of Haydn's exuberance and musical genius.