Day 42: A Herd of Turtles

HaydnCD42Back at Denny’s this morning. I’m seeing the sames faces here. Just like at Mr. Burger, my usual breakfast hangout.

Well, usual when I eat breakfast with my wife. Not my usual when I write my blogs.

That spot is reserved for Panera Bread.

Seeing the same faces is comforting, no matter where those faces may be.

I guess the theme song to Cheers was right.

I really do want to go where everybody knows my name.

Another benefit to hanging out in places like this: I get to hear old timers say stuff my dad used to say. For example, the guy leaving just now said his good byes and, over his shoulder on his way out the door, said, “I’m off like a herd of turtles.”

I haven’t heard that phrase in many, many years.

But here’s another bit of serendipity.

When I Googled the phrase “Herd of Turtles” to see how common the phrase was/is, I discovered a web site called Herd of Turtles.

It’s about a family on a road adventure, driving around the U.S, experiencing a simpler life. From what I read, they were just in Michigan, too. Passed right through West Michigan, perhaps 20-30 miles from where I sit right now.

Interesting coincidence, wot?

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Their banner photo of the turtles lined up like dinner plates in a dishwasher is also right up my alley. My wife and I love turtles. Whenever we’re out on a walk near a lake, we look for them, making a game out of spotting and counting them.

Turtles are our friend.

Today’s Haydn compositions are actually quite intriguing. They’re my friends, too.

The first is Harmoniemesse in B Flat HOB XXII:14.

Sure, it’s mass-like. But it’s more like an opera proper to my ears. For one thing, the “cast” is bigger. Now there’s a soprano (Maja Roodveldt), a contralto (Corrie Pronk), a tenor (Andreas Gisler), and a bass (Marc Pantus).

Plus, the choir and orchestra of The Netherlands Bach Ensemble.

So the sound is big. And the voices swirl and twirl around one another. Lots of “Amens” going on. And a woman who sounds like a singer in a Marx Brothers movie. (I think that’s the contralto. But don’t hold me to it.)

Check it out. This is the exact same composition to which I’m listening this morning:

I’m a soprano kind of guy. I prefer higher voices to mid-range voices. That means, for women, it’s soprano. For men, it’s tenor.

Unlike the masses yesterday, today’s Harmoniemesse (there’s another word I’ll be Googling in a second or two), holds my attention. As I wrote, it’s more like an opera with exciting voices and dynamic passes. It’s not just a recitation of a Catholic liturgy. In Latin, no less.

Okay. I just Googled Harmoniemesse. What I discovered is fascinating.

Seems Hadyn wrote this in 1802, which means he was 70 years old. He only lived seven more years. So this was written at the tale end of his life.

Another thing I discovered, according to its entry on Wiki,

It is because of the prominence of the winds in this mass and “the German terminology for a kind of wind ensemble, Harmonie,” that this mass setting is called “Harmoniemesse” or “Wind-Band Mass.” Besides flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in B-flat, 2 trumpets in B-flat, the mass also calls for choir, timpani, strings and organ, the latter supplying figured bass for most of the duration.

Leave it to the Germans to create one of those compound-noun words: “wind-band mass.” I love it. (The Germans are great for taking a word like “pencil” and turning it into a tongue-twisting, polysyllabic tour de force. And I don’t mean that with any disrespect. One of my dearest friends is German. I spent time in Berlin. I just love languages and cultures.)

In addition,

The Kyrie has “the most striking ‘introductory’ shock in Haydn’s late vocal music … a rather long orchestral introduction … [with] unceasing contrasts between soft and loud, and the unexpected entry of G-flat, the flat submediant, in the fifth bar.” The Agnus Dei makes reference both to the Adagio of Symphony No. 98 and to Mozart’s Coronation Mass.

Fascinating. Fascinating, indeed.

The wind-band mass is one of my favorite Haydn compositions. It features superb vocalists, a stirring orchestral arrangement, and enough surprises to keep my mind intrigued.

Surprisingly, Missa Cellensis (Mariazeller Messe) in C HOB XXII:8 is also very enjoyable.

Here. Try it for yourself. This is the exact Mass to which I’m listening this morning:

For some reason, I find this eminently listenable.

I like the tenor’s voice when he steps up for a solo at about the two-minute mark of Credo. In the YouTube clip, that’s at the 15:15 mark. That was Aldo Baldin, the late Brazilian tenor.

According to the Wikipedia list of Haydn masses, this one was written in 1782. Haydn was 50.

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