Mass in C major Op. 86 was written in 1807 as a commission by Prince Nikolaus II Eszterházy. Its premiere was performed under the composer himself at the Bergkirche in Eisenstadt on 13 September the same year.
Every year, Prince Nikolaus II commissioned a well-known composer to write a mass for a solemn celebration of the name-day of his wife, Princess Maria Hermenegilde. Haydn, the Eszterházy court composer of many years, wrote all of his last six masses for the occasion, J. Hummel was also one of the commissioned masters, and the honour came to Beethoven in late 1706. The composer, then busy with his Symphony No. 5, accepted the offer with half a year’s delay (forwarding a letter from his physician to prove that he was sick), and admitted his anxiety since “the Prince is used to the unparalleled works of the great Haydn.” The mass, composed simultaneously with Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral”, was received coldly. Schindler, Beethoven’s first biographer, quoted the Prince’s equivocal reaction after the premiere: “My dear Beethoven, what on earth have you done?” The offended composer stormed out of the Eisenstadt court and revoked his original dedication. The mass was published only five years later in 1812, and dedicated to one of Beethoven’s patrons, Prince Ferdinand Kinsky, who also helped publish the work.
The critical judgement on the first of Beethoven’s two masses was only overturned by later generations, when its combination of masterly form and depth of the religious understanding of the text were finally appreciated. In the general structure of the work, the visible debt to models by great predecessors is repaid by new and original developments. These include the intonation of Kyrie by bass voices of the choir with no instrumental accompaniment, or the fragment of Sanctus, where the choir is only accompanied by timpani. In the entire work, the vocals dominate over the instrumental parts. The quartet of soloists closely collaborates with the choir; the incessant dialogue produces contrasts of colour and dynamics. Also, none of the mass’s fragments is a solo aria. These peculiarities of the work are a result of a dramatic reading of the text of the mass, of rendering different shades of meaning by careful selection of musical expression. “I think I have treated the text in a way so far unknown,” wrote Beethoven to his publisher, demanding a German translation to be added to the score and explaining by its lack the poor response to his masterpiece. The musical language of Mass in C major is representative for the middle period of the composer; yet it also presages the techniques that will surface fifteen years later in Missa solemnis.
Kyrie (Andante, C major), in traditional recapitulative form, introduces a seraphic aura emphasized by the subtle instrumentation that does away with flutes, trumpets and timpani.
Majestic exclamations of the choir begin Gloria and determine the celebratory mood of its extreme sections (Allegro, C major). A subdued middle fragment (Andante, F minor) with the text Qui tollis pecata mundi is a plea sung by the quartet of soloists and carried on by the choir. The initial mood returns with an extended choral fugue Quonima tu solus Sanctus.
The central Credo is the most visionary of the parts of the cycle. Its dramatic musical narration abounds in sudden changes of expression that are due to the content of text and to accenting its imagery and symbolism. The first fragment (Allegro con brio, C major) is a powerful and self-assured declaration of faith intoned by the choir. The soft and calm song of the soloists opens a contrastive second fragment (Adagio, C minor) on Et incarnatus est, a description of the miracle of Incarnation. It is broken by the choir’s lament – Crucifixus – bringing to mind the events of the Passion. An abrupt change of mood comes with a bass solo – Et resurexit – that opens the third fragment (Allegro, C major): a joyful and triumphant climate accompanies the account of Resurrection and Ascension. Quite traditionally, the movement ends in a fugue on Et vitam venturi (Vivo, C major) to proclaim faith in eternal life.
A delicate instrumental introduction begins Sanctus (Adagio, A major); its soft tone is then taken over by the choir a capella. An impulsive Pleni sunt coeli (Allegro) leads to a fugato, Osanna. Its narration is interrupted by an a capella entry of the soloists to intone the text of Benedictus (Allegretto, F major). The lyrical song of the solo quartet supported by additions from the choir restores the initial mood. Then, a joyful fugato Osanna rises in the choir (Allegro, A major).
The choir’s pleading prayer Agnus Dei (Poco andante, C minor) moves on to a dialogue, full of faith and hope, between the soloists and the choir at the words Dona nobis pacem (Allegro, C major). The choral coda (Andante) brings back the musical material of the introductory Kyrie, enclosing the cycle in a musical frame.
Ewa Siemdaj
Kyrie
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Gloria
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Laudamus te.
Benedicimus te.
Adoramus te.
Glorificamus te.
Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.
Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.
Domine Fili unigenite, Iesu Christe.
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.
Quoniam tu solus Sanctus.
Tu solus Dominus.
Tu solus Altissimus, Iesu Christe.
Cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris.
Amen.
Credo
Credo in unum Deum.
Patrem omnipotentem,
factorem caeli et terrae,
visibilium omnium et invisibilium.
Et in unum Dominum
Jesum Christum,
Filium Dei unigenitum,
Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula.
Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine,
Deum verum de Deo vero.
Genitum, non factum,
consubstantialem Patri:
per quem omnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nostram salutem
descendit de caelis.
Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto
ex Maria Virgine:
Et homo factus est.
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato:
passus, et sepultus est.
Et resurrexit tertia die,
secundum scripturas.
Et ascendit in caelum:
sedet ad dexteram Patris.
Et iterum venturus est
cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos:
Cujus regni non erit finis.
Et in Spiritum sanctum Dominum,
et vivificantem:
Qui ex Patre, Filioque procedit.
Qui cum Patre, et Filio simul adoratur,
et conglorificatur:
Qui locutus est per Prophetas.
Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.
Confiteor unum baptisma
in remissionem peccatorum.
Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum
Et vitam venturi saeculi.
Amen.
Sanctus
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus
Benedictus qui venit
in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem