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Beethoven Missa Solemnis program notes, recordings and sheet music

Program Notes: Ludwig van Beethoven – Missa solemnis in D Major, Op. 123

Welcome, dear concert-goer, to a truly monumental and awe-inspiring experience – a work that stands not only as a pinnacle of sacred music but as one of the most profound and challenging achievements in all of Western classical music. Tonight, we immerse ourselves in Ludwig van Beethoven’s magnificent Missa solemnis in D Major, Op. 123.

Beethoven: The Soul's Quest for the Divine

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), the titan of the Classical-Romantic transition, is known for his revolutionary symphonies and intensely personal piano sonatas. While his public image often emphasizes heroic struggle and defiance, his engagement with sacred music was deeply personal and philosophical. Unlike the Mass in C, which was a commission, the Missa solemnis was a labor of profound spiritual conviction, driven by an inner compulsion rather than external demand.

Begun around 1819, the Mass was originally intended for the enthronement of his patron and friend Archduke Rudolf as Archbishop of Olmütz in 1820. However, the work grew far beyond any practical liturgical function, becoming a five-year spiritual and compositional odyssey that absorbed Beethoven's energies alongside his Ninth Symphony and final piano sonatas. It was completed in 1823, three years after the enthronement, and was deemed far too long and demanding for a typical church service. Beethoven himself referred to it as "Das grosse Messenwerk" – "The Great Mass Work."

He wrote above the Kyrie: "Von Herzen—möge es wieder zu Herzen gehen!" ("From the heart—may

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