Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827): Mass in C major, op. 86

Ludwig van Beethoven had a connection with church music from childhood onwards; even at a very young age, while still in Bonn, he served as court organist. Even though he created relatively few church music compositions, they seem to have been of importance to him in his personal engagement with the faith.

The C major Mass was a commission from Nicholas II Prince Esterházy in Eisenstadt. Every year, on the name day of Maria Josepha Hermenegilde Princess Esterházy de Galantha, there was a great celebration with a representative service. Joseph Haydn's late masses were intended for these celebrations - Beethoven had received the commission for 1807.

Knowing the tradition and after intensive study of Haydn's masses, Beethoven transposed the text into a very personal tonal language; as he himself writes, he approached it "in a way that it has rarely been treated before". Perhaps because it was so different, but probably above all because of its late completion and lack of rehearsal time, the premiere in Eisenstadt on 13 September 1807 was anything but a success - at least in the eyes of the Prince.

The Mass gets by without big arias, rather works with all the harmonic, contrasting changing moods, is varied, expressive, but at the same time with a certain withdrawn simplicity in which the text is in the foreground, with its very personally differentiating musical interpretation.

Dr.ⁱⁿ Maria Helfgott
Translation: Godwin Gundacker

Conductor: Johannes Ebenbauer
Organist: Jeremy Joseph
Choir: Vienna Boys Choir, Vienna State Opera men's choir, "Choralschola der Wiener Hofburgkapelle"
Orchestra: Members of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra

Celebrant: Peter Schipka

Duration: approx. 100 min (09:15-10:55)

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