It has taken surprisingly long for a CD version to arrive of Haydn's Schopfungsmesse (''Creation Mass''), the last but one of the great series of Masses he wrote for the Princess Esterhazy's name-day, during his retirement after returning from London. Marriner directs the Staatskapelle, Dresden and Leipzig Radio Chorus in an unusually brisk performance, not always as polished in the choral ensemble as one expects of that splendid chorus, but consistently lively. As a generous fill-up comes the fascinating Kleine Orgelmesse, which outrageously telescopes the words of the liturgy, so that the Gloria is polished off in 48 seconds, with different lines simultaneously sung by different voices. It was written a quarter of a century earlier than the Schopfungsmesse but still brings fascinating foretastes of the future, as in the Credo on the chromatic setting of the word ''Passus'', with much compressed into little. For such a work Marriner's forces are really too big and weighty, and in the Schopfungsmesse also I would prefer cleaner, sparer textures. Quite apart from the size of the choir and orchestra, the East German recording characteristically presents a bass-heavy sound against a reverberant acoustic.
I note that this very coupling was offered on LP and cassette in a bargain reissue of 1986 from Decca, but that has now disappeared from the catalogue. It contained the recordings made originally for Argo by George Guest, the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge and the St Martin's Academy. Indeed, Marriner was still leading the orchestra he had founded when the Schopfungsmesse was recorded, and I am rather sorry he did not take more note of that earlier version in his own performance. Guest's speeds are consistently slower, but often not much so, and in almost every instance he springs the rhythms more winningly, bringing out the pure joy of Haydn's inspiration in glorifying God. Above all, the scale is far more apt, with fresh-toned trebles cutting through brightly, not to mention the brass—horns in particular—which make the final ''Dona nobis pacem'' even more exuberant, blazing away as their Dresden counterparts cannot do thanks to the recording. If Decca decide to reissue those excellent vintage versions on CD, I would certainly count them preferable, with better matched if less starry soloists. Barbara Hendricks for Marriner produces radiant tone, but does not always attack exposed notes cleanly. In the meantime Marriner still fills an important gap in the catalogue with a performance of satisfying power and urgency.'