There will be one moment in tomorrow’s Thirteenth Annual Hawaii Vocal Masterworks Festival concert where I’ll get a chance to “shine” (either that, or be a flop!), and that is in the Benedictus movement of Haydn’s Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo, nicknamed “The Little Organ Mass.”

The work was written about 1775 for the Convent Church of the Merciful Brother in Eisenstadt, Austria. This beautiful baroque church dates from 1739 and is located at the southwest corner of a hospital complex.

The term “little” may refer to either the composition (as the whole mass is rather short), or to the actual organ which Haydn played, which had only six stops without pedal.

When I first learned about this small organ, I really wanted to see if there was a picture of it, and after a l-o-n-g search on the internet, finally found an article written in German, with several pictures!

The organ was built in 1732 by the organ builder Franz Frey, with 114 wooden pipes and 314 tin pipes. Even though there is no pedalboard, if you choose the right music, you don’t really need a pedalboard to make the organ sound full.

As it turns out, I will be in Austria from July 6-8 and who knows! Maybe I’ll just have to see this organ for myself!

Here is the American Bach Soloists’ performance of the Benedictus movement, with soprano Tamara Matthews, played by and directed by Jeffrey Thomas, organist.

In tomorrow’s concert, you’ll hear the lovely voice of Naomi Castro singing the solo and yours truly at the “organ.”

The other major work on tomorrow’s program is Henry Purcell’s brilliant short opera, Dido and Aeneas, directed by Tim Carney, and semi-staged with soloists Jennifer Lane, Naomi Castro, Karol Nowicki and Amy Johnson. Other pieces by Monteverdi, Beethoven and Ola Gjeilo will be performed by the Hawaii Vocal Masterworks Chorus.

Tickets are available at the door or online at this link:

https://www.hawaiivocalarts.com/concerts/festival17

Hope to see you there!