Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn spent over half his life in the employ of the Hungarian Esterházy family. He was a fixture of the Esterházy household through multiple rulers, although the ascension of Prince Antal in 1790 severely altered his role. Although Haydn’s salary was maintained, no duties were required since Prince Antal, who fostered no love of music, made no commissions and dismissed most of the court musicians. Given his lack of official duties, Haydn was at liberty to enjoy two trips to London and en route met a young Ludwig van Beethoven. Haydn extended an invitation to come study counterpoint with him at the Esterházy estate and Beethoven accepted. Upon Antal’s death in 1795, Prince Miklós II reinstated the previous musical standards and Haydn arranged for a part-time schedule given his advancing age.

Throughout his Esterházy tenure, Haydn occasionally received additional commissions for sacred works from Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, herself an accomplished singer and a devout Catholic. Such a commission came for the Te Deum, Hob. 23C:2, and was begun in the fall of 1799 and completed the following spring. Its first performance was in September of 1800 to celebrate the visit of British naval hero Lord Nelson and his famed mistress Lady Emma Hamilton. Te deums are normally used for noteworthy thanksgivings or celebrations, such as the birth of a royal child. The arrival of Nelson would have been something the Habsburgs and their allies would want to celebrate! The close of the 1700s found Europe entrenched in turmoil. Napoleon’s forces had attempted to take control of the southern Mediterranean (defeated by Nelson) and had imprisoned the Pope, who died in captivity in August 1799. Napoleon’s coup d’état was on November 9th, 1799 thus re-engaging the Holy Roman Empire in combat.

In addition to the Te Deum, the program featured Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis from two years previous, which eventually earned the nickname of the “Lord Nelson Mass,” plus a new piece to celebrate Nelson’s Mediterranean victory and to be sung by Lady Hamilton. Urban legend claims Nelson offered Haydn a gold watch he had won during the very battle Haydn depicted in exchange for the pen that he used to compose the piece for Lady Hamilton.

Clocking in around nine minutes, the three-part Te Deum is exclusively a choral work without solos. The outer Allegro sections are in C major, the key of rejoicing, purity, innocence, and child’s talk; mimicking a “childlike faith.” The inner Adagio is in C minor, the key of “languishing longing of lovesick soul,” as the middle of Te Deums bring up Christ’s sacrifice. The final Allegro culminates in a double fugue*. Incidentally, both Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had a predilection for selecting trombones for sacred works and representing the divine. This is due to “Gabriel’s trumpet” in Martin Luther’s Bible translation. Luther chose to use the middle high German word for trumpet, “Posaune.” Centuries later the slide was invented and Germans attached “Posaune” to the new trombone.

*A double fugue presents two subjects simultaneously. They are a fairly rare occurrence, adding drama and complexity. Beethoven, who studied counterpoint with Haydn, wrote THREE double fugues in his Ninth Symphony!