The Great Organ Mass of 1768/9 was among the earliest sacred works that Haydn wrote for the Esterházy court and includes an obbligato organ part that he himself probably played. Nearly thirty years later, the Heiligmesse of 1796 was written just after Haydn’s return to the court to serve the new Prince, Nicolaus II. Taking its nickname from the use of an old German Sanctus tune, the work gives a particularly prominent role to the chorus. The Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung wrote of this vivid setting: ‘in the soul of this old man there blooms eternal youth’.