BEETHOVEN'S SOLEMN MASS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 441, 5 December 1947, Page 23

BEETHOVEN'S SOLEMN MASS

Full Broadcast by 2YC EETHOVEN’S Solemn Mass has been explained as the fitting link between the Eighth and Ninth Symphonies-a sort of sacred symphony with Solos and Chorus. It is certainly a very free interpretation of the Roman Catholic Church’s Mass, and would be too long and far too difficult for liturgic use. The Solemn Mass was written by Beethoven for his pupil and friend, the Archduke Rudolph of Austria, who was elected in 1818, and was to be installed in March, 1820, as Archbishop of Olmutz, and the Mass was originally intended for this function. At this time Beethoven’s deafness had got worse, and he knew it was hopelessly incurable; he was "hard-up" and |

ms nephew was giving him much worry; nevertheless, he steeped himself in the study of early Church Music (particularly the Palestrina Masses) and became so interested in his new project that for a while he even set aside his

Ninth Symphony, upon which he had been working for some time. In August, 1819, Beethoven’s friend, Schindler, visited him and found him in a terrible state... . "In the living toom, behind a locked door," he says, "we heard the master singing parts of the Fugue and the Credo--singing, howling and stamping. Suddenly the door opened, and Beethoven stood before us with distorted features calculated to excite fear. He looked as though he had been in mortal combat with a whole host of contrapuntists-his ever- | lasting enemies." Schindler comforted and calmed the hungry and weary composer. "Never," he concludes, "did so great an art work as the Solemn Mass see its creation under such adverse circumstances." Needless to say, the Mass was not teady for the Archbishop’s installation -indeed, as time passed Beethoven |: seemed to forget the original object for which he was composing the work, and it was not completed until February, 1823. Beethoven never heard a complete presentation of his Solemn Mass. True, he was at the Vienna concert on May 7, 1824, when the Kyrie, Credo and Agnus Dei were included in excerpts from the work, at the same time as the premiere of his Ninth Symphony, but when the audience shouted for the composer after the concert, Beethoven could not hear a sound and was turned round to see the applauding crowd. The Solemn Mass is regarded as the highest peak of Beethoven’s attainments; throughout its gigantic lay-out, the imagery and invention never falter. His inscription at the beginning of the music reads: "From the heart it comes; to the heart it will go"-this epitomizes the scope and wide appeal of the music. Beethoven's "Solemn Mass in D, Op. 123," will be heard in full from Station 2YC, on Saturday, December 20, at 8.0 p.m,