Mass in C major Op. 86 was written in 1807 as a commission by Prince Nikolaus II Eszterh\u00e1zy. Its premiere was performed under the composer himself at the Bergkirche in Eisenstadt on 13 September the same year.
\nEvery 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 Eszterh\u00e1zy 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\u2019s 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.\u201d The mass, composed simultaneously with Symphony No. 6 \u201cPastoral\u201d, was received coldly. Schindler, Beethoven\u2019s first biographer, quoted the Prince\u2019s equivocal reaction after the premiere: \u201cMy dear Beethoven, what on earth have you done?\u201d 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.
\nThe critical judgement on the first of Beethoven\u2019s 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\u2019s 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. \u201cI think I have treated the text in a way so far unknown,\u201d 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.
\nKyrie (Andante, C major), in traditional recapitulative form, introduces a seraphic aura emphasized by the subtle instrumentation that does away with flutes, trumpets and timpani.
\nMajestic 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.
\nThe 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\u2019s lament \u2013 Crucifixus \u2013 bringing to mind the events of the Passion. An abrupt change of mood comes with a bass solo \u2013 Et resurexit \u2013 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.
\nA 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).
\nThe choir\u2019s 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.
\nEwa Siemdaj<\/p>\n
Kyrie
\nKyrie eleison.
\nChriste eleison.
\nKyrie eleison.<\/p>\n
Gloria
\nGloria in excelsis Deo.
\nEt in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
\nLaudamus te.
\nBenedicimus te.
\nAdoramus te.
\nGlorificamus te.
\nGratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.
\nDomine Deus, Rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.
\nDomine Fili unigenite, Iesu Christe.
\nDomine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.
\nQui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
\nQui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.
\nQui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.
\nQuoniam tu solus Sanctus.
\nTu solus Dominus.
\nTu solus Altissimus, Iesu Christe.
\nCum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n
Credo
\nCredo in unum Deum.
\nPatrem omnipotentem,
\nfactorem caeli et terrae,
\nvisibilium omnium et invisibilium.
\nEt in unum Dominum
\nJesum Christum,
\nFilium Dei unigenitum,
\nEt ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula.
\nDeum de Deo, lumen de lumine,
\nDeum verum de Deo vero.
\nGenitum, non factum,
\nconsubstantialem Patri:
\nper quem omnia facta sunt.
\nQui propter nostram salutem
\ndescendit de caelis.
\nEt incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto
\nex Maria Virgine:
\nEt homo factus est.
\nCrucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato:
\npassus, et sepultus est.
\nEt resurrexit tertia die,
\nsecundum scripturas.
\nEt ascendit in caelum:
\nsedet ad dexteram Patris.
\nEt iterum venturus est
\ncum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos:
\nCujus regni non erit finis.
\nEt in Spiritum sanctum Dominum,
\net vivificantem:
\nQui ex Patre, Filioque procedit.
\nQui cum Patre, et Filio simul adoratur,
\net conglorificatur:
\nQui locutus est per Prophetas.
\nEt unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.
\nConfiteor unum baptisma
\nin remissionem peccatorum.
\nEt expecto resurrectionem mortuorum
\nEt vitam venturi saeculi.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n
Sanctus
\nSanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
\nDominus Deus Sabaoth.
\nPleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
\nHosanna in excelsis.<\/p>\n
Benedictus
\nBenedictus qui venit
\nin nomine Domini.
\nHosanna in excelsis.<\/p>\n
Agnus Dei
\nAgnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
\nAgnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
\nAgnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mass in C major Op. 86 was written in 1807 as a commission by Prince Nikolaus II Eszterh\u00e1zy. 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-b"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beethoven.org.pl\/encyklopedia\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beethoven.org.pl\/encyklopedia\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beethoven.org.pl\/encyklopedia\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beethoven.org.pl\/encyklopedia\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beethoven.org.pl\/encyklopedia\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/beethoven.org.pl\/encyklopedia\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":364,"href":"https:\/\/beethoven.org.pl\/encyklopedia\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions\/364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beethoven.org.pl\/encyklopedia\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beethoven.org.pl\/encyklopedia\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beethoven.org.pl\/encyklopedia\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}