Joseph Haydn: Missa solemnis in B

Within approximately six weeks Haydn, in 1801, composed his “Creation Mass” as the fifth of altogether six late missae solemnes commissioned by his employer, Prince Nikolaus II. Esterházy. The sobriquet “Creation Mass” is not authentic, but it is probably based on the quotation in the Gloria taken from the oratorio “Die Schöpfung.