Siegmund II Christoph Graf von Schrattenbach, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, died on December 16, 1771. He had been a well-liked ruler, a lover of the arts and generous to those in his employ. Not only had he granted his church musician Leopold Mozart extensive leave to take his children on ambitious tours of Europe, where they displayed their preternatural talents, but he had also bestowed generous financial gifts upon the proud father to underwrite their travels. Additionally, he paid handsomely for the education abroad of a number of singers employed at the archiepiscopal court: one such was the soprano Magdalena Lipp, daughter of the cathedral organist and wife of the concertmaster, Johann Michael Haydn.

Haydn, the younger of the two brothers, enjoyed a long career at Salzburg, during which he produced a substantial output of church music, almost all of it of remarkable quality. To him fell the task of commemorating Schrattenbach’s demise, and his masterly C minor Requiem was completed by the end of the year, ready for performance on January 2, 1772. Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart were both among the musicians who took part, and when, almost 20 years later, Wolfgang was commissioned to compose a Requiem of his own, it was primarily – and audibly – Michael Haydn to whom he turned as a model.

You hear the influence most clearly in the ‘Domine Jesu Christe’ of the two works, which are not only in the same key (G minor) but show marked similarities of melodic and rhythmic contour, through to the fugal ‘Quam olim Abrahae’, the respective subjects of which are unmistakably related to one another. Other parallels include the canonic vocal entries in the opening ‘Requiem aeternam’, the awestruck settings of ‘Et lux perpetua’, the use of a plainsong melody at ‘Te decet hymnus’ and the fugue theme of Haydn’s ‘Cum sanctis tuis’, which features the falling diminished seventh characteristic of Mozart’s ‘Kyrie’. Unlike Mozart, Haydn sets the ‘Dies irae’ sequence as a single movement – a large-scale ritornello, in which the opening music returns between a range of episodes, variously for soloists or chorus – but here, too, there are noticeable correspondences at moments such as ‘Quantus tremor’, ‘Confutatis’ and ‘Lacrimosa’.

Much of Michael Haydn’s music awaits rediscovery and reappraisal but the Requiem is surely his best-known work. Six recordings are currently accessible, the earliest of which is a rather sluggish one from Salzburg under Ernst Hinreiner (Koch, 1981). Far more alert is the indefatigable Helmuth Rilling (Hungaroton, 1988), a reading that has become a cornerstone of Michael Haydn recorded surveys. Four recordings from the new century include an affectionate live performance in sadly indifferent sound quality from Salzburg under Ivor Bolton (Oehms, 2004) and a small-scale period-instrument reading from Belgium with Guy Janssens (Cyprès, 2006), touching in its soft-grained intimacy. Christian Zacharias in Lausanne (MDG, 2003) brings out the post-Baroque grandeur of the work in a dignified and tightly disciplined performance. The finest recording so far of the Requiem, however, was made in 2004 by The King’s Consort. The radiant Carolyn Sampson leads a perfectly matched quartet of soloists, while the Consort’s choir respond unerringy to the full drama of the work. Joseph Haydn thought his little brother’s Masses finer than his own, and on hearing a performance as distinctive as this, you might almost agree.

But that’s not the end of the Requiem story for Michael Haydn. During the last year of his life he embarked upon a lyrical second setting, in B flat, commissioned by the Empress Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily (the second wife Francis II and the recipient also of Joseph Haydn’s great C major Te Deum). He completed it as far as the words ‘unde mundus judicetur’ before he was unable to continue; it was completed after his death by a certain Gunther Kronecker (1803-47) and sensitively recorded in 2006 by Saarbrücken singers and Munich players under Georg Grün (Carus).

Moreover, the discovery of what was dubbed an ‘alleged middle Requiem’ was announced in 1999. It was given a fine recording by Westphalian forces under the ever-exploratory Werner Ehrhardt (Capriccio, 2005) before it was pointed out that this work was actually not by Haydn at all, but a copy he made of (most of) a Requiem of c1788-93 by a priest and diplomat called Georg von Pasterwiz (1730-1803). Don’t be put off, though: like Haydn’s genuine Requiem it’s a fine piece, a highlight of a rich repertory that remains largely unknown and under-investigated.

Recommended recording

The King’s Consort / Robert King (Hyperion)

Finding an ideal balance between the mournful tread of basses and the hieratic ring of trumpets, Robert King directs a performance that mines the full drama of text and music. Perfect soloist selection and an impeccable choral contribution crown the achievement.