Camerata Salzburg & Vox Luminis

Does the epithet Missa in angustiis (Mass for Troubled Times) refer to the stressful composition process for Joseph Haydn or tensions on the world stage in 1798? Both this added layer of meaning and the musical energy of the piece are still relevant today. Cost-cutting at the Esterházy court meant that the woodwind section had to be replaced by an organ, leading to an unusual instrumentation in Haydn’s masses. The Requiem in D Minor by W.A. Mozart also took on a life of its own after the composer’s death: the unfinished mass was completed by his former student Franz Xaver Süszmayr, with a skill matched only by the sense of mystery in the piece. Belgium’s pride, Vox Luminis, and the acclaimed ensemble Camerata Salzburg link up these two shining examples of late 18th century church music.