Haydn’s Missa Sancti Joannis de Deo (Little Organ Mass) will be conducted by artistic director Linda Blanchard, and performed with professional soloists and orchestra, on Friday, Aug. 7 and Sunday, Aug. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor. For more information, contact Lincoln Arts Festival at 207-633-3913 or lincolnartsfestivalbbh@gmail.com.

Franz Joseph Haydn composed the Missa Sancti Joannis de Deo around 1775, during his long and productive tenure as Kapellmeister for the wealthy Esterházy family. Missa Sancti Joannis de Deo is also known as the "Little Organ Mass" due to its modest instrumentation and the lovely organ obligato in the Benedictus, the work was written for the chapel of the Barmherzige Brüder in Eisenstadt. Haydn scored the mass specifically to fit the physical constraints of this small performance space. He utilized a "Viennese church trio" accompaniment consisting of two violins, organ, and continuo.

In the Gloria and Credo, Haydn employed the common eighteenth-century technique of polytextual writing, where different voice parts sing different lines of the lengthy text simultaneously. This complexity leads to the simplicity of structure in Benedictus, in which there is a dialogue between the soprano soloist and the organ. This serene movement leads to a gentle, pleading Agnus Dei. - Sean Fleming

Tickets are $20 and are available online at lincolnartsfestival.org or at Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop in Boothbay Harbor. They may also be purchased at the door 30 minutes prior to each performance.