Happy in the coupling as in the performance, both Masses are radiant with energy, the Sancti Nicolai serene in its bliss, the Theresienmesse adding splendour and expansiveness. The G major Mass, with its shortened texts for Gloria and Credo, has a pastoral tint, anticipating early in the December of 1772 the adoration of the shepherds in the Christmas to come: courtly shepherds, one might think, with a sanctity that is not at all averse to the tribute of a good tune and a dancing rhythm. When gaiety gives way to gravity, as in the Agnus Dei, there is no sense that the one is more or less profound than the other; the joy 'matters' quite as much as the 'seriousness', and it is to joy that the Mass returns in its ''Dona nobis pacem''. The Theresienmesse of 1799, a masterpiece on a larger scale, exhilarates in its vitality of invention and is effortlessly graceful in its formal control.
These are the qualities most emphasized in performance here. The rhythms have a fine spring to them, a sense of bodily zest as of mental illumination. The allegro movements go a shade faster than usual, a little more urgent in manner than in the recordings under Sir George Guest and Simon Preston that present themselves for comparison. The soloists, an admirable quartet, are placed well forward, and the orchestra claims more of the listener's attention than does the choir. In this respect I prefer the balance of Guest's Theresienmesse, which remains a marvellously satisfying version despite the greater clarity of orchestral texture in its successor. The Bernstein recording from 1979 is characteristically exuberant but will not do for those who reject performances with full orchestra and large chorus. In the Sancti Nicolai the churchy acoustic of the Preston tends to blur, especially in the Credo, where Pinnock is particularly good with the spirited ''Amens'' and the businesslike close.'