Organization

Osterfestspiele Salzburg

Conductor

Herbert von Karajan

Soprano

Anna Tomowa-Sintow

Bass

José van Dam

Orchestra

Berliner Philharmoniker

Others

Wiener Singverein

Beethoven, Missa solemnis D-Dur op. 123

Salzburg

Austria

In April 1819, Beethoven's pupil, friend and patron Archduke Rudolph was elected cardinal; two months later he received the archbishopric of Olomouc. Since a mass setting would certainly be needed for Rudolph's inauguration, Beethoven decided to compose the Missa solemnis. "God will enlighten me," he wrote to Rudolph, "that my feeble powers may contribute to the glorification of this solemn day..."

With the Missa solemnis, Beethoven wanted to get one step closer to becoming a court musician; he had been hoping for such a post for some years. In 1815 Beethoven wrote in his diary how he imagined the position of court musician: "If possible bring the ear machines to maturity, than then read - you owe this to yourself, to the people and to him the Almighty, only then can you develop again, everything that has to remain closed in you - and a small courtyard - a small chapel written by me in which she led the song, to the honor of the Almighty - the eternal infinite..."

Apart from these thoughts of artistic development in honor of God, it was also the traditional Latin text of the mass and the solemn liturgical ceremony that prompted Beethoven to concentrate all his energies on this sacred work. An opera or an oratorio would have tied him to a libretto with which he would never have been entirely satisfied. This had already been shown in the lengthy history of the genesis of his opera "Leonore" and "Fidelio". The succinct Latin text of the Mass gave him all he needed to compose a work of tremendous impact and magnitude.

While Beethoven was working on the Missa solemnis, his health deteriorated rapidly. On the day of the Archduke's inauguration, not a single part of the Mass was ready enough for Beethoven to be satisfied with his work. The Missa solemnis was so important to him that he simply couldn't let it go as long as it was unfinished - again and again he had to bring it a little closer to completion. (An impression of the many changes is given by a hole that he had erased in one place in the course of countless corrections, although the paper was of the best quality.)

Beethoven seemed obsessed with the task he had set himself. The Missa solemnis was to become his greatest work. In preparation, he studied church music, procured copies of the hymns sung in the monasteries, had an exact translation of the Latin text made and, for practice, copied choruses from Handel's "Messiah" (for him, Handel was the greatest composer who ever lived). .

Anton Schindler, his friend and future biographer, visited Beethoven while he was working on the Missa solemnis. Already in the stairwell you could hear him "sing, howl and stomp". Schindler continues: "After we had been listening to this almost horrific scene for a long time and were just about to leave, the door opened and Beethoven stood before us with disturbed facial features that could inspire fear. He looked as if he had just fought to the death and life with the whole host of counterpointists, his perennial adversaries."

In 1823 Beethoven gave the Archbishop of Olmütz the Missa dedicated to him; the enthronement was years ago. In April 1824 the first performance took place in St. Petersburg. Finally, three of the five movements were premiered in Vienna, not in a church, but in the completely sold-out Kärntnertortheater. However, Archduke Rudolph was not present on May 7, 1824.

This recording was made on April 13, 1979 in the Festspielhaus Salzburg.

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