Beethoven: Missa Solemnis

Cambridge Music Handbooks

by William Drabkin

The Missa Solemnis is a document of extraordinary richness from the last decades of Beethoven's creative life. In this accessible guide, William Drabkin considers the work as an expression of the most celebrated text of the Roman Catholic faith and as an example from a tradition of Mass settings in eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Austria. The opening chapters present various critical perspectives on the Missa Solemnis and chart the history of its composition, first performances, and publication. But, above all, the work itself is considered in detail, including the overall design, connections between the movements, the orchestration, word painting, and programmatic elements.

Genres: Music

132 pages, Hardcover

First published November 29, 1991

Reviews

[I-kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not really in a position to judge since much of the discussion is technical and it requires a lot of patience on my part to follow the analysis, but still giving it a subjective five stars because I learned much and am in awe of Missa Solemnis more than ever.