Haydn’s Missa Sancti Nicolai is his only early Mass that can be directly connected to the Esterházy court.

As the title suggests, it was probably intended for the Feast of St Nicholas which was also the name day of Prince Nicolaus Esterházy.

Composed over twenty-five years later in 1798, the Missa in angustiis is the third of Haydn’s six late Masses. The nickname ‘Nelson Mass’ was added several years later, possibly as a result of the famous English Admiral’s visit to Eisenstadt in September of 1800.

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