motet notes - Haydn

Very late in his life, after returning from his sojourn in London, Haydn wrote several small pieces for chorus with piano on religious texts. These are not at all related to his large Mass settings from the same time, but rather reflect an interest in intimate hausmusik. One imagines that they might have been sung at devotionals in the Esterhazy household. Our work today, “Abendlied zu Gott,” is a treasure, full of ingenious counterpoint but always warm and personal in nature.

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