Missa solemnis (Beethoven)

The Missa solemnis in D major, Op. 123, is a Solemn Mass composed by Ludwig van Beethoven from 1819 to 1823. It was first performed on 7 April 1824 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, under the auspices of Beethoven's patron Prince Nikolai Golitsyn; an incomplete performance was given in Vienna on 7 May 1824, when the Kyrie, Credo, and Agnus Dei were conducted by the composer. It is generally considered one of the composer's supreme achievements and, along with Bach's Mass in B minor, one of the most significant Mass settings of the common practice period.

Missa solemnis
by Ludwig van Beethoven
Autograph, beginning of the Kyrie, with the famous dedication "Von Herzen..." and the performance advice "Mit Andacht" ("with devotion")
Key	D major
Opus	123
Text	Mass ordinary
Language	Latin
Dedication	Rudolf of Austria
Performed	7 April 1824 (1824-04-07): Saint Petersburg
Scoring	soloists choir orchestra

Written around the same time as his Ninth Symphony, it is Beethoven's second setting of the Mass, after his Mass in C major, Op. 86. The work was dedicated to Archduke Rudolf of Austria, archbishop of Olmütz, Beethoven's foremost patron as well as pupil and friend. The copy presented to Rudolf was inscribed "Von Herzen—Möge es wieder—Zu Herzen gehn!" ("From the heart – may it return to the heart!")

History

Composition history

The Missa Solemnis is Beethoven's third choral composition on a sacred subject, after the oratorio Christus am Ölberge (1802), and his earlier mass setting, the Mass in C major (1807). The new composition was written to celebrate the investiture of Rudolph of Habsburg-Lorraine as Archbishop of Olmütz, which took place on 9 March 1820.

Performance history

The first performance did not take place in a sacred setting, but at the Philharmonic Society in Saint Petersburg on the initiative of the Russian nobleman and patron Nikolai Golitsyn on 7 April 1824 (March 26 Old Style). The premiere, originally planned for Christmas 1823, was delayed by rehearsing the demanding choral parts, which proved to be more time-consuming than planned, and by incorrectly copied parts. Who conducted the premiere on 7 April 1824 is unknown.

Parts of the mass (Kyrie, Credo, Agnus Dei) were performed on 7 May 1824, under the direction of Kapellmeister Michael Umlauf at the Kärntnertor Theater in Vienna, together with the overture The Consecration of the House and the premiere of Symphony No. 9. The three movements of the mass performed were designated “hymns” because the Viennese censorship authorities objected to the performance of mass settings in a secular venue.

Another performance of the entire mass took place in a liturgical setting in 1830 in the Church of St. Peter and Paul in the Bohemian town of Varnsdorf.

Scoring and instrumentation

The mass is scored for a quartet of vocal soloists, a substantial chorus, and the full orchestra. Each at times is used in virtuosic, textural, and melodic capacities. The full roster consists of 2 flutes; 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in A, C, and B♭); 2 bassoons; contrabassoon; 4 horns (in D, E♭, B♭ basso, E, and G); 2 trumpets (D, B♭, and C); alto, tenor, and bass trombone; timpani; organ continuo; strings (violins I and II, violas, cellos, and basses); soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists; and mixed choir.

Structure

The Missa solemnis consists of five movements, corresponding to the first five sections of the Ordinary.

Note: Under "Scoring", the performers are indicated with the following abbreviations: "S" vocal soloists, "C" chorus, "O" orchestra. Additionally, "T" stands for the tenor soloist in 'Et homo factus est', and "V" the violinist in the Benedictus. Under "Note", the remarks in italics were written into the score by the composer.

№	Movement	Bars	Incipit	Bars	Tempo	Scoring	Key	Meter	Note
1	Kyrie	224	Kyrie eleison	86	Assai sostenuto	SCO	D major		"Mit Andacht"
			Christe eleison	42	Andante assai ben marcato		B minor	3 2
			Kyrie eleison	96	Tempo I		D major
2	Gloria	569	Gloria in excelsis Deo	130	Allegro vivace	CO	D major	3 4	Gloria theme
			Gratias agimus tibi	43	Meno Allegro	SCO	B♭ major
			Domine Deus	56	Tempo I		B♭ major, F major		Gloria theme
			Qui tollis peccata mundi	80	Larghetto		D minor, D major, B♭ major, D major	2 4
			Quoniam tu solus Sanctus	50	Allegro maestoso	CO	D major	3 4
			In gloria Dei Patris. Amen	99	Allegro, ma non troppo e ben marcato	SCO			Fugue
				66	Poco piu Allegro
				45	Presto	CO		3 4	Reprise of 'Gloria in excelsis Deo'
3	Credo	473	Credo in unum Deum	124	Allegro ma non troppo	CO	B♭ major		Credo theme
			Et incarnatus est	20	Adagio	SCO	D Dorian
			Et homo factus est	12	Andante	TCO	D major	3 4	Tenor solo
			Crucifixus etiam pro nobis	32	Adagio espressivo	SCO	D minor
			Et resurrexit tertia die	6	Allegro	C	G Mixolydian		A cappella chorus
			Et ascendit in coelum	70	Allegro molto	CO	F major
			Credo in Spiritum Sanctum	42	Allegro ma non troppo				Credo theme
			Et vitam venturi... Amen	67	Allegretto ma non troppo		B♭ major	3 2	Double fugue
				60	Allegro con moto
				40	Grave	SCO
4	Sanctus	235	Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus	33	Adagio	SO	D major	2 4	"Mit Andacht"
			Pleni sunt coeli	19	Allegro pesante				Fugue
			Osanna in excelsis	27	Presto			3 4
			-	32	Sostenuto ma non troppo	O	G major		"Praeludium"
			Benedictus qui venit	124	Andante molto cantabile e non troppo mosso	SCVO	G major, C major, G major	12 8	Violin solo
5	Agnus Dei	434	Agnus Dei	95	Adagio	SCO	B minor
			Dona nobis pacem	68	Allegretto vivace		D major	6 8	"Bitte um innern und äussern Frieden"
				26	Allegro assai		B♭ major		Martial episode 1
				76	Tempo I		F major, D major	6 8	Handel's Messiah citation: "And he shall reign"
				88	Presto		D major, B♭ major		Martial episode 2
				81	Tempo I		B♭ major, D major	6 8

Duration: A performance of the complete work runs from 70 to 90 minutes.

Analysis

The writing displays Beethoven's characteristic disregard for the performer, and is in several places both technically and physically exacting, with many sudden changes of dynamic, metre and tempo. This is consistent throughout, starting with the opening Kyrie where the syllables Ky-ri are delivered either forte or with sforzando, but the final e is piano. As noted below, the reprise of the Et vitam venturi fugue is particularly taxing, being both subtly different from the previous statements of the theme and counter-theme, and delivered at around twice the speed. The orchestral parts also include many demanding sections, including the violin solo in the Sanctus and some of the most demanding work in the repertoire for bassoon and contrabassoon. The difficulty of the piece combined with the requirements for a full orchestra, large chorus, and highly trained soloists, both vocal and instrumental, mean that it is not often performed by amateur or semi-professional ensembles.

Kyrie

Perhaps the most traditional movement, the Kyrie is in a traditional ABA′ structure. The grand opening 3 D major chords motif, contrasts sharply with the 4th pianissimo response: (GOD/man) followed by humble stately choral writing in the first section and more contrapuntal vocal textures in the Christe section. The four (SATB) vocal soloists and chorus share the thematic material throughout, the former particularly in the Christe Eleison section.

Gloria

Quickly shifting textures and themes highlight each portion of the Gloria text, in a beginning to the movement that is almost encyclopedic in its exploration of ³
₄ time. The movement ends with the first of the work's two fugues, on the text "In gloria Dei patris. Amen", leading into a recapitulation of the initial Gloria text and music.

Credo

The form of the Credo may be divided into four parts:

1. 'Credo in unum Deum' through 'descendit de coelis' in B♭
2. 'Et incarnatus est' through 'Resurrexit' in D
3. 'Et ascendit' through the Credo recapitulation in F
4. Fugue and coda 'Et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen' in B♭.

The movement opens with a chord sequence that will be used again in the movement to effect modulations. The word "Credo" is repeatedly sung in a two-note motif, and the work thus joins the tradition of so-called "Credo Masses", including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Missa brevis in F major, K. 192 and Mass in C major, K. 257. The Credo, like the Gloria, is an often disorienting, mad rush through the text. The poignant modal harmonies for the "Et incarnatus" yield to ever more expressive heights through the Crucifixus, and into a remarkable, a cappella setting of the "Et resurrexit" that is over almost before it has begun. Most notable about the movement, though, is the closing fugue on "Et vitam venturi saeculi" that includes one of the most difficult passages in the choral repertoire, when the subject returns at doubled tempo for a thrilling conclusion.

Sanctus

Up until the Benedictus of the Sanctus, the Missa solemnis is of fairly normal classical proportions. But then, after an orchestral preludio, a solo violin enters in its highest range—representing the Holy Spirit descending to earth in a remarkably long extension of the text.

Agnus Dei

A setting of the plea "miserere nobis" (have mercy on us) that begins with the men's voices alone in B minor yields, eventually, to a bright D major prayer "dona nobis pacem" ("grant us peace") in a pastoral mode. After some fugal development, it is suddenly and dramatically interrupted by martial sounds (a convention in the 18th century, as in Haydn's Missa in tempore belli), but after repeated pleas of "miserere", eventually recovers and brings itself to a close.

Critical reception

Some critics have been troubled that, as Theodor W. Adorno put it, "there is something peculiar about the Missa solemnis." In many ways, it is an atypical work, and lacks the sustained thematic development that is one of Beethoven's hallmarks. The fugues at the end of the Gloria and Credo align it with the work of his late period—but his simultaneous interest in the theme and variations form is absent. Instead, the Missa presents a continuous musical narrative, almost without repetition, particularly in the Gloria and Credo, the two longest movements. The style, Adorno has noted, is close to treatment of themes in imitation that one finds in the Flemish masters such as Josquin des Prez and Johannes Ockeghem, but it is unclear whether Beethoven was consciously imitating their techniques to meet the demands of the Mass text. Donald Tovey has connected Beethoven to the earlier tradition in a different way:

Not even Bach or Handel can show a greater sense of space and of sonority. There is no earlier choral writing that comes so near to recovering some of the lost secrets of the style of Palestrina. There is no choral and no orchestral writing, earlier or later, that shows a more thrilling sense of the individual colour of every chord, every position, and every doubled third or discord.

Michael Spitzer presents an alternative view of the historical context of Beethoven's mass composition:

Gregorian melodies, of course, continued to be used in the Mass throughout the eighteenth century; but by Beethoven's time they were relatively rare, especially in orchestral Masses. The one composer who still used them extensively is Michael Haydn, in his a cappella Masses for Advent and Lent. It is significant that in some of these he limits the borrowed melody to the Incarnatus and expressly labels it "Corale." In the Missa dolorum B. M. V. (1762) it is set in the style of a harmonized chorale, in the Missa tempore Qudragesima of 1794 note against note, with the Gregorian melody (Credo IV of the Liber Usualis) appearing in the soprano. I have little doubt that Beethoven knew such works of Michael Haydn, at that time the most popular composer of sacred music in Austria.

Recordings

Audio

Year	Conductor	Orchestra and choir	Soloists	Label
1928	Bruno Kittel	Berliner Philharmoniker, Bruno-Kittel-Chor	Lotte Leonard/Emmy Land, Elenor Schlosshauer-Reynolds, Anton Maria Topitz/Eugen Transky, Wilhelm Guttmann/Hermann Schey	Polydor
1935	Arturo Toscanini	New York Philharmonic, New York Schola Cantorum	Elisabeth Rethberg, Marion Telva, Giovanni Martinelli, Ezio Pinza	Archipel
1937	Thomas Beecham	London Philharmonic Orchestra, Leeds Festival Chorus	Isobel Baillie, Mary Jarred, Heddle Nash, Keith Falkner	EMI
1938	Sergey Koussevitzky	Boston Symphony, Radcliffe Choral Society, Harvard Glee Club	Jeanette Vreeland, Anna Kaskas, John Priebe, Norman Cordon	RCA
1939	Arturo Toscanini	BBC Symphony Orchestra BBC Choral Society	Zinka Milanov, Kerstin Thorborg, Koloman von Pataky, Nicola Moscona	Archipel
1940	Clemens Krauss	Chor und Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper	Trude Eipperle, Luise Willer, Julius Patzak, Georg Hann	Archipel
1940	Arturo Toscanini	NBC Symphony Orchestra, Westminster Choir	Zinka Milanov, Bruna Castagna Jussi Björling, Alexander Kipnis	Music and Arts
1946	Erich Kleiber	Teatro Colon Orchestra and Chorus	Nilda Hoffmann, Mafalda Rinaldi, Lydia Kindermann, Kolomon von Pataky	Archipel
1948	Bruno Walter	New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Westminster Choir	Eleanor Steber, Nan Merriman, Walter Hain, Lorenzo Alvary	Music and Arts
1948	Erich Kleiber	Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus	Birgit Nilsson, Lisa Tunnel, Gosta Backlein, Sigurd Bjorling	Music and Arts
1950	Otto Klemperer	Wiener Symphoniker, Akademiechor Wien	Ilona Steingruber, Elsa Schürhoff, Ernst Maykut, Otto Wiener	Vox
1953	Arturo Toscanini	NBC Symphony Orchestra, Robert Shaw Chorale	Lois Marshall, Nan Merriman, Eugene Conley, Jerome Hines	RCA
1955	Otto Klemperer	Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, Kölner Rundfunkchor, Chor des Norddeutschen Rundfunks	Annelies Kupper, Sieglinde Wagner, Rudolf Schock, Josef Greindl	Archiphon
1955	Karl Böhm	Berliner Philharmoniker, Chor der St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale	Maria Stader, Marianna Radev, Anton Dermota, Josef Greindl	Deutsche Grammophon
1955	Volkmar Andrae	Wiener Symphoniker, Wiener Singverein	Teresa Stich-Randall, Hilde Rössel-Majdan, Julius Patzak, Gottlob Frick	Archipel
1957	Carl Schuricht	Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Chor der St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale	Maria Stader, Elsa Cavelti, Ernst Haefliger, Heinz Rehfuss	Archiphon
1957	Otto Klemperer	Concertgebouworkest, Toonkunstkoor Amsterdam, Collegium Musicum Amstelodamense	Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Nan Merriman, József Simándy, Heinz Rehfuß	Archipel
1959	Herbert von Karajan	Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Singverein	Leontyne Price, Christa Ludwig, Nicolai Gedda, Nicola Zaccaria	EMI
1960	Leonard Bernstein	New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Westminster Choir	Eileen Farrell, Carol Smith, Richard Lewis, Kim Borg	Columbia
1960	Herbert von Karajan	Philharmonia Orchestra Wiener Singverein	Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig, Nicolai Gedda, Nicola Zaccaria	Testament
1963	Günter Wand	Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Gürzenich-Chor	Leonore Kirchstein, Jeanne Deroubaix, Peter Schreier, Günther Morbach	Nonesuch. Testament
1965	Otto Klemperer	New Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus	Elisabeth Söderström, Marga Höffgen, Waldemar Kmentt, Martti Talvela	EMI
1966	Herbert von Karajan	Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Singverein	Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Fritz Wunderlich, Walter Berry	Deutsche Grammophon
1967	Eugene Ormandy	Philadelphia Orchestra, Singing City Choirs	Martina Arroyo, Maureen Forrester, Richard Lewis, Cesare Siepi	Columbia
1967	George Szell	Cleveland Orchestra & Chorus	Sara Mae Endich, Florence Kopleff, Ernst Haefliger, Ezio Flagello	Urania
1970	Eugen Jochum	Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Chorus	Agnes Giebel, Marga Höffgen, Ernst Haefliger, Karl Ridderbusch	Philips
1973	William Steinberg	Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, Kölner Rundfunkchor	Heather Harper, Julia Hamari, Sven Olof Eliasson, Peter Meven	ica classics
1974	Karl Böhm	Wiener Philharmoniker, Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor	Margaret Price, Christa Ludwig, Wiesław Ochman, Martti Talvela	Deutsche Grammophon
1975	Herbert von Karajan	Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Singverein	Gundula Janowitz, Agnes Baltsa, Peter Schreier, Jose Van Dam	EMI
1975	Carlo Maria Giulini	London Philharmonic Orchestra New Philharmonia Chorus	Heather Harper, Janet Baker, Robert Tear, Hans Sotin	EMI
1977	Rafael Kubelík	Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayrischen Rundfunks	Helen Donath, Brigitte Fassbänder, Peter Schreier, John Shirley-Quirk	Orfeo
1977	Colin Davis	London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus	Anna Tomova-Sintow, Patricia Payne, Robert Tear, Robert Lloyd	Philips
1978	Georg Solti	Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus	Lucia Popp, Yvonne Minton, Mallory Walker, Gwynne Howell	Decca
1978	Leonard Bernstein	Concertgebouw Orchestra, Radio Chorus of the NOS, Hilversum	Edda Moser, Anna Schwarz, René Kollo, Kurt Moll	Deutsche Grammophon
1982	Georg Solti	London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edinburgh Festival Chorus	Helen Donath, Doris Soffel, Siegfried Jerusalem, Hans Sotin	LPO
1985	Herbert von Karajan	Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Singverein	Lella Cuberli, Trudeliese Schmidt, Vinson Cole, José van Dam	Deutsche Grammophon
1985	Michael Gielen	ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Wiener Singverein	Alison Hargan, Marjana Lipovšek, Thomas Moser, Matthias Hölle	Orfeo
1987	Michael Gielen	SWF-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, Prague Philharmonic Choir	Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Marjana Lipovšek, Josef Protschka, Kurt Rydl	Intercord/Aurophon
1987	Terje Kvam	The Hanover Band, Oslo Cathedral Choir	Marianne Hirsti, Carolyn Watkinson, Andrew Murgatroyd, Michael George	Nimbus
1988	Antal Doráti	European Symphony Orchestra, University of Maryland Chorus	Tina Kiberg, Rosemarie Lang, William Cochran, Mikhail Krutikov	BIS
1988	Antal Doráti	European Symphony Orchestra, University of Maryland Chorus	Barbara Martig-Tüller, Rosemarie Lang, William Cochran, Thomas Brandis	Melodiya
1988	Robert Shaw	Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus	Sylvia McNair, Janice Taylor John Aler, Tom Krause	Telarc
1989	John Eliot Gardiner	Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique Monteverdi Choir	Charlotte Margiono, Catherine Robbin, William Kendall, Alastair Miles	Archiv Produktion
1989	Helmuth Rilling	Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart	Pamela Coburn, Florence Quivar, Aldo Baldin, Andreas Schmidt	Hänssler
1990	Jeffrey Tate	English Chamber Orchestra, Tallis Chamber Choir	Carol Vaness, Waltraud Meier, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Hans Tschammer	EMI
1991	Daniel Barenboim	Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus	Tina Kiberg, Waltraud Meier John Aler, Robert Holl	Erato
1991	James Levine	Wiener Philharmoniker, Leipziger Rundfunkchor, Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericson Chamber Choir	Cheryl Studer, Jessye Norman, PlácidoDomingo, Kurt Moll	Deutsche Grammophon
1992	Nikolaus Harnoncourt	Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Arnold Schoenberg Chor	Eva Mei, Marjana Lipovsek, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Robert Holl	Teldec
1993	Rudolf Barshai	Russian National Orchestra, Sveshnikov Male Choir, Moscow Radio Children's Choir	Ursula Fiedler, Barbara Hölzl, Werner Hollweg, Jakob Stämpfli	Capriole
1994	Georg Solti	Berliner Philharmoniker Rundfunkchor Berlin	Julia Varady, Iris Vermillion, Vinson Cole, René Pape	Decca
1996	Kurt Masur	Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Rundfunkchor Leipzig	Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Annalies Burmeister, Peter Schreier, Hermann Christian Polster	Berlin Classics
2001	David Zinman	Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Schweizer Kammerchor	Luba Orgonasova, Anna Larsson, Rainer Trost, Franz-Josef Selig	Arte Nova
2001	Roger Norrington	Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, NDR-Chor, SWR Vokalensemble	Amanda Halgrimson, Cornelia Kallisch, John Aler, Alastair Miles	Hänssler
2002	Philippe Herreweghe	Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Collegium Vocale Gent La Chapelle Royale	Rosa Mannion, Birgit Remmert, James Taylor, Cornelius Hauptmann	Harmonia Mundi
2003	Kenneth Schermerhorn	Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Chorus	Lori Phillips, Robynne Redmon, James Taylor, Jay Baylon	Naxos
2006	Colin Davis	Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayrischen Rundfunks	Luba Orgonasova, Jadwiga Rappé, Uwe Hellmann, Jan-Hendrik Rootering	RCA
2007	Gustav Kuhn	Bolzano-Trento Haydn Orchestra, Chorus Academy of the Tyrolean Festival	Ingrid Kaiserfeld, Hermine Haselbock, Wolfram Wittekind, Liang Li	Col Legno
2008	Valentin Radu	Ama Deus Ensemble	Sarah Davis, Jody Kidwell, Timothy Bentch, Ed Bara	Lyrichord
2010	Alan Gilbert	New York Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Choral Artists	Christine Brewer, Jane Henschel, Anthony Dean Griffey, Eric Owens	NY Philharmonic
2010	Enoch zu Guttenberg	Orchester und Kammerchor der KlangVerwaltung	Susanne Bernhard, Anke Vondung, Pavol Breslik, Yorck Felix Speer	Farao Classics
2011	Charles Mackerras	Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia Choir	Rosamund Illing, Elizabeth Campbell, Christopher Doig, Rodney Macann	ABC Classics
2012	Herbert Blomstedt	Gewandhausorchester, MDR Rundfunkchor	Simone Schneider, Gerhild Romberger, Richard Croft, Jochen Kupfer	Querstand
2012	Christoph Eschenbach	London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir	Anne Schwanewilms, Annette Jahns, Nikolai Schukoff, Dietrich Henschel	LPO
2012	Philippe Herreweghe	Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Collegium Vocale Gent	Marlis Petersen, Gerhild Romberger, Benjamin Hulett, David Wilson-Johnson	PHI
2012	John Eliot Gardiner	Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Monteverdi Choir	Lucy Crowe, Jennifer Johnston, James Gilchrist, Matthew Rose	SDG
2014	Bernard Haitink	Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks	Genia Kühlmeier, Elisabeth Kulman, Mark Padmore, Hanno Müller-Brachmann	BR Klassik
2015	Nikolaus Harnoncourt	Concentus Musicus Wien, Arnold Schoenberg Chor	Laura Aikin, Bernarda Fink, Johannes Chum, Ruben Drole	Sony
2017	Daniel Reuss	Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Cappella Amsterdam	Carolyn Sampson, Marianne Beate Kielland, Thomas Walker, David Wilson-Johnson	Glossa
2017	Marek Janowski	Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig	Regine Hangler, Elisabeth Kulman, Christian Elsner, Franz-Josef Selig	Pentatone
2018	Masaaki Suzuki	Bach Collegium Japan	Ann-Helen Moen, Roxana Constantinescu, James Gilchrist, Benjamin Bevan	BIS
2019	Frieder Bernius	Hofkapelle Stuttgart, Kammerchor Stuttgart	Johanna Winkel, Sophie Harmsen, Sebastian Kohlhepp, Arttu Kataja	Carus
2021	René Jacobs	Freiburger Barockorchester, RIAS Kammerchor	Polina Pastirchak, Sophie Harmsen, Steve Davislim, Johannes Weisser	Harmonia Mundi
2023	Jordi Savall	Le Concert des Nations, La Capella Nacional de Catalunya	Lina Johnson, Olivia Vermeulen, Martin Platz, Manuel Walser	AliaVox

Video

Year	Conductor	Orchestra and choir	Soloists	Label
1977	Rafael Kubelík	Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayrischen Rundfunks	Helen Donath, Brigitte Fassbänder, Peter Schreier, John Shirley-Quirk
1978	Leonard Bernstein	Concertgebouw Orchestra, Radio Chorus of the NOS Hilversum	Edda Moser, Anna Schwarz, René Kollo, Kurt Moll
1990	Herbert von Karajan	Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Singverein	Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Ruža Baldani, Eric Tappy, José van Dam	Deutsche Grammophon
1994	John Eliot Gardiner	Sinfonieorchester und Chor des Norddeutschen Rundfunks, Monteverdi Choir	Luba Orgonasova, Catherine Robbin, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Alastair Miles	ZDF
2005	Fabio Luisi	Staatskapelle Dresden, Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden	Camilla Nylund, Birgit Remmert, Christian Elsner, René Pape	EuroArts
2005	Gilbert Levine	Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Choir	Bozena Harasimowicz, Monica Groop, Jerry Hadley, Franz-Josef Selig	Arthaus Musik
2014	John Eliot Gardiner	Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique Monteverdi Choir	Lucy Crowe, Jennifer Johnston, Michael Spyres, Mathew Rose	BBC
2016	Nikolaus Harnoncourt	Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir	Marlis Petersen, Elisabeth Kulman, Werner Güra, Gerald Finley	C Major
2016	Andrés Orozco-Estrada	Sinfonie-Orchester des Hessischen Rundfunks, Wiener Singverein	Regine Hangler, Katrin Wundsam, Steve Davislim, Hanno Müller-Brachmann
2016	Daniel Reuss	Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Cappella Amsterdam	Carolyn Sampson, Marianne Beate Kielland, Thomas Walker, David Wilson-Johnson	Avrotros/NPO
2019	Frieder Bernius	Hofkapelle Stuttgart, Kammerchor Stuttgart	Johanna Winkel, Sophie Harmsen, Sebastian Kohlhepp, Arttu Kataja	Naxos
2020	Christian Thielemann	Staatskapelle Dresden, Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden	Krassimira Stoyanova, Elina Garanča, Michael Schade, Franz-Josef Selig	C Major
2021	John Eliot Gardiner	Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks	Lucy Crowe, Gerhild Romberger, Julian Prégardien, Tareq Nazmi
2021	Riccardo Muti	Wiener Philharmoniker, Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor	Rosa Feola, Alisa Kolosova, Dmitry Korchak, Ildar Abdrazakov	Unitel
2022	Philippe Herreweghe	Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Collegium Vocale Gent	Eleanor Lyons, Eva Zaïcik, Ilker Arcayürek, Hanno Müller-Brachmann

Further reading

• Lester, Joel (Autumn 1970). "Revisions in the Autograph of the Missa Solemnis Kyrie". Journal of the American Musicological Society. 23 (3): 420–438. doi:10.2307/830614. JSTOR 830614.

External links

• Media related to Missa solemnis (Beethoven) at Wikimedia Commons
• Missa solemnis, Op. 123: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Kristin Diana Trayer: Ludwig van Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Mass in D, Op.123 fulminiesaette.it
• Jan Swafford: Missa Solemnis, a Divine Bit of Beethoven, NPR