Missa Solemnis op.123 by Ludwig van Beethoven

“One of the most grandiose artistic working processes ever documented in the history of music”
Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) described his grandly conceived Missa solemnis as “my greatest work” and sold handwritten copies to some subscribers even before it had appeared in print. He struggled with the composition for years, specifically between 1819 and 1823, searching for a highly personal way to deal with the words and musical traditions of the Mass Ordinary. In the end, Beethoven produced a work that leaves no listeners cold – some are puzzled but a great many are deeply moved. It was first performed on April 7th, 1824 in St. Petersburg at a performance patronized by Prince Nikolai Borisovich Galitzine (1794–1866). The original score reflects how intensively he worked and what a difficult work process it was. Aside from the many corrections there are several torn-out pages. In some places, Beethoven could only proceed by stitching replacement pages into the manuscript. The document thus serves as a witness to the composition of this solemn mass.