Rencontres Musicales de Vézelay 2005

Michael Haydn

Thursday 24th August 2006 at 16:00
Avallon (Collégiale Saint-Lazare)

Zefiro and Arsys Bourgogne
Conductor : Alfredo Bernardini

Michael Haydn : Missa Sancti Hieronymi (first performance)
Druschetzky : Messe en si b

Joseph Haydn's lesser-known younger brother (Johann) Michael produced large quantities of high-quality sacred music.

This mass dates from 1777 and was first performed in Salzburg Cathedral on All Saints' Day, with the composer conducting. Leopold Mozart attended the performance and wrote about it the same day in a letter to his son: 'I have just come back from divine service at the cathedral, where Michael Haydn conducted his mass for oboes. I found the whole work exceptionally pleasing, its scoring for six oboes, two bassoons, three double basses and organ so close to the sound of the human voice ... the work was so superbly written that I wished it had been longer. It all flows naturally, the fugal writing shows real mastership. If I can get my hands on this mass some day, I shall definitely send it to you.'

Heironymus Colloredo had been made Prince Archbishop of Salzburg in 1772. Although, like Mozart, Michael Haydn suffered at the hands of this unpleasant individual, he nonetheless paid him the compliment of naming this great work for him. The mass' unique timbre derives from the absence of stringed instruments and from its six oboe parts.

Haydn's decision to score the mass for wind instruments only cannot have been made simply because of a temporary lack of other instruments, for further on in Leopold Mozart's letter we hear how the other cathedral instrumentalists were placed next to the oboists to tap out the beat on their shoulders, because they couldn't see Haydn conducting from where they sat. Johann Michael Haydn must therefore have been particularly interested in achieving this orchestral colour.

This mass is not the only example of vocal music accompanied only by wind instruments. The same is true of the Bohemian composer Georg Druschetzky's Mass in B flat. After a career as oboist and timpanist in the military bands of the Austrian army, and having already written a vast amount of wind band music, this composer settled in Pest in 1801, in the service of the Archduke Josef Anton Johann. This post gave him scope to compose music in which he experimented with new instrumental configurations and a new style. Written in 1810 when Druschetzky was 65, the Mass in B flat is a work in the Classical style, and it shows up all the inventiveness of this composer who was also well-known in his lifetime for his sense of humour.

About the musicians
Zefiro

In Greek mythology, Zephyr (or Zefiro in Italian)is the god of the West wind, the gentlest and most welcome of the winds.

The ensemble was founded in 1989 by oboists Alfredo Bernadini and Paolo Grazzi, and the bassoon player Alberto Grazzi, all of them members of distinguished Baroque orchestras. Zefiro is a flexible ensemble whose particular speciality is 18th century music in which wind instruments have pride of place.

The newly-formed ensemble was immediately invited to take part in major European festivals (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Geneva, Innsbruck, London, Lyons, Manchester, Milan, Moscow, Rome, Salzburg, Utrecht, Tenerife and Vienna), and further afield in Israel, Egypt, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Japan. Audiences and reviewers alike are always enthusiastic about Zefiro's performances.

The recordings of Jan Dismas Zelenka's sonatas for two oboes and bassoon, and the complete recording of Mozart's wind band music, under the Astrée label, won international acclaim, including the Grand Prix du Disque, putting Zefiro among the highest-ranking wind ensembles of the day. More recently, under the Ambroisie label, Zefiro have concentrated their attention on the rediscovery of lesser-known works, written by remarkable composers such as Georg Druschetzky and Luigi Gatti. Zerfiro's activities in the baroque repertoire are well represented by recordings of Handel's Water Music, Telemann's Wassermusick and many Vivaldi concertos.

Alfredo Bernardini

Born in Rome in 1961, Alfredo Bernadini moved to Holland in 1981 in order to specialise in the baroque oboe and early music with Bruce Haynes, Ku Ebbing and others. In 1987 he graduated as a soloist from the Royal Conservatoire in the Hague. He has performed throughout Europe, in the US, Japan, China, Israel and South America with baroque ensembles including Hesperion XX, Le Concert des Nations, La Petite Bande, The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, the Freiburger Barockorchester, The English Consort and Bach Collegium Japan. In 1989 he founded Zefiro with the Grazzi brothers Paolo and Alberto. He can be heard on over a hundred recordings, including the Vivaldi oboe concertos which won the Cannes Classical Awards in 1995.

In 1999 Bernadini made a documentary film with Zefiro about Antonio Vivaldi for Belgian television.

In his capacity as a conductor, Bernadini has worked with many orchestras in Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Holland. In November 2001 he conducted the European Union Baroque Orchestra on its tour of Germany, Spain and China.

In parallel with his performing career, Bernadini's research into the history of wind instruments has led him to publish many articles on the subject in notable international magazines.

He has taught the baroque oboe in the Amsterdam Conservatoire since 1992, and at Barcelona's ESMUC (Catalonia Conservatoire) since 2002.

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