Sunday Mass with the Vienna Boys Choir

The Vienna Boys' Choir is a choir of long-standing tradition; it is one of the oldest boys' choirs not attached to a church or a college. It was the choir attached to the Austrian court and very much a travelling band. its roots go back to the 13th century, but records from the early phases are tenuous and scarce. In the late 15th century, the choir was part of the court music of Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor, who moved the court from Innsbruck to Vienna and thus is credited with the foundation of the Chapel Imperial.

Among the Choir's duties today are the Sunday services in the Imperial Chapel, appearances at official state occasions, concerts in Vienna and abroad as well as appearances in the Vienna State Opera and Volksoper. Each choir spends about 11 weeks of the academic year on tour; each choir boy sings around 80 performances a year.

Joseph Haydn: Great Organ Solo Mass / Missa in E flat. In honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae.

The “Great Organ Solo Mass” is one of Haydn's early masses, created when he had not been long as court music director in the service of Prince Nicholas I Esterházy. The location of the premiere, the Eisenstadt Castle Chapel, is a relatively small room, which corresponds to the relatively small cast. But it is precisely in the instrumentation that Haydn shows himself to be modern: he uses two English horns, which require an unusual range of tones - the corresponding instruments were purchased by Haydn at the time the mass was written.

The outstanding feature of this mass, however, is the organ that stands out as a soloist; it is not for nothing that this Marian Mass (“Missa in honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae”) was later given the name “Great Organ Solo Mass”. Using the organ as a concert instrument in liturgy was popular at this time. This meant that smaller organ concerts (stylistically corresponding to concerts for other keyboard instruments) could also be performed in the mass. While in other “organ solo masses” the organ traditionally appears primarily as a soloist in the Benedictus, in this mass, in addition to its virtuoso appearance in the Benedictus, it is used in concert in almost all movements from the beginning of the Kyries. Haydn himself probably played the organ part at the premiere.

Program and cast

7 and 21 June 2026

Franz Schubert: Messe Es Dur

14 June 2026

W. A. Mozart: Organ Solo Mass

28 June 2026

W. A. Mozart: Coronation Mass

20 September 2026

W. A. Mozart: Missa brevis in B flat major, KV 275

Conductor: Martin Schebesta/Cristoph Campestrini
OrganistIn: Jeremy Joseph/Elke Eckerstorfer
 

27 September 2026

W. A. Mozart: Sparrow Mass

Conductor: Jordi Casals
Organist: Wolfgang Kogert
 

4 October 2026

W. A. Mozart: Piccolominimesse

Conductor: Mirjam Schmidt

Organist: Elke Eckerstorfer

11 October 2026

W. A. Mozart: Missa brevis in B flat major, KV 275

Conductor: Martin Schebesta/Cristoph Campestrini
OrganistIn: Jeremy Joseph/Elke Eckerstorfer

18 October 2026

Joseph Haydn: Theresienmesse

Conductor: Martin Schebesta
Organist: Robert Kovács

25 October 2026

Franz Schubert: Mass G-Dur

Conductor: Mirjam Schmidt
Organistin: Elke Eckerstorfer/Jeremy Joseph

1 November 2026

W. A. Mozart: Sparrow Mass

Conductor: Jordi Casals
Organist: Wolfgang Kogert

8 November 2026

Joseph Haydn: Theresienmesse

Conductor: Martin Schebesta
Organist: Robert Kovács

15 November 2026

Franz Schubert: Mass G-Dur

Conductor: Mirjam Schmidt
Organistin: Elke Eckerstorfer/Jeremy Joseph

22 November 2026

W. A. Mozart: Solemn Mass

Conductor: Martin Schebesta
Organist: Wolfgang Kogert/Jeremy Joseph

29 November 2026

Hans Leo Hassler: Second Mass

13 December 2026

Jacobus Gallus: Canonical Mass

Conductor: Johannes Ebenbauer/Manolo Cagnin
Organist: Robert Kovács/Elke Eckersdorfer

20 December 2026

JJ Fux: Mass of confidence

Conductor: Jordi Casals
Organist: Jeremy Joseph

25 December 2026

Joseph Haydn: Nicolaimesse

Conductor: Johannes Ebenbauer
Organistin: Elke Eckerstorfer

27 December 2026

W. A. Mozart: Coronation Mass

Messe C-Dur, KV 317, „Krönungsmesse“

3 January 2027

Joseph Haydn: Nicolaimesse

Conductor: Johannes Ebenbauer
Organistin: Elke Eckerstorfer

10 January 2027

Michael Haydn: Mass of Saint Leopold

17 January 2027

W. A. Mozart: Solemn Mass

Conductor: Martin Schebesta
Organist: Wolfgang Kogert/Jeremy Joseph

24 January 2027

W. A. Mozart: Missa brevis in D major, KV 194

Conductor: Jordi Casals
Organist: Wolfgang Kogert

31 January 2027

W. A. Mozart: Missa brevis in F major, KV 192

Conductor: Jordi Casals
Organist: Jeremy Joseph

7 February 2027

L. v. Beethoven: Mass in C-Dur

14 February 2027

Hans Leo Hassler: Second Mass

21 February 2027

Antonio Caldara: Missa dolorosa

28 February 2027

JJ Fux: Mass of confidence

Conductor: Jordi Casals
Organist: Jeremy Joseph

7 March 2027

Claudio Monteverdi: Mass for four voices da cappella

14 March 2027

Antonio Caldara: Missa dolorosa

Conductor: Manuel Huber
Organist: Jeremy Joseph

21 March 2027

Hans Leo Hassler: Second Mass

28 March 2027

L. v. Beethoven: Mass in C-Dur

4 April 2027

Joseph Haydn: Theresienmesse

Conductor: Martin Schebesta
Organist: Robert Kovács

11 April 2027

W. A. Mozart: Missa brevis in F major, KV 192

Conductor: Jordi Casals
Organist: Jeremy Joseph

18 April 2027

W. A. Mozart: Organ Solo Mass

25 April 2027

Maurice Duruflé: Mass with jubilation

2 May 2027

Joseph Haydn: Paukenmesse

9 May 2027

Michael Haydn: Mass of Saint Leopold

16 May 2027

Joseph Haydn: Paukenmesse

Mass in Time of War, C Major, Hob. XXII:9, Timpani Mass

23 May 2027

W. A. Mozart: Organ Solo Mass

Conductor: Martin Schebesta
Organist: Wolfgang Kogert

30 May 2027

W. A. Mozart: Missa brevis in F major, KV 192

Conductor: Jordi Casals
Organist: Jeremy Joseph

6 June 2027

W. A. Mozart: Small Minimesse

Conductor: Mirjam Schmidt
Organistin: Elke Eckerstorfer

13 and 27 June 2027

Franz Schubert: Messe Es Dur

20 June 2027

W. A. Mozart: Piccolominimesse

Conductor: Mirjam Schmidt
Organistin: Elke Eckerstorfer