Faure Requiem and Haydn Mass in Time of War (Paukenmesse)

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Anxiety and Tranquility - Haydn's Mass in C ('Mass in a time of war', also known as the Paukenmesse after the drumrolls in the Agnus Dei movement) was written at a time when Austria was at war with France and suffering the anxiety of a nation that has been at peace for over a century. Oddly, though, the work is characterised more by its easy melodies and a mood of optimism than by its dark passages. Faure's much-loved Requiem never really strays from its overall mood of tranquility; its charm lies in its deceptive simplicity.