Beethoven: Missa solemnis

St. Michael's Church

Standing as a monument to sacred choral works, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis is a mass setting of immense weight and scale. Lofty grandeur and heavenward serenity dance with angular leaping figures, violent dynamic contrasts weave through the delicately orchestrated massed forces, and a searching quality reflective of his own faith, that of looking beyond our understanding at a numinous God, is never far from the surface. 

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BBC NOW - Missa Solemnis

Brangwyn Hall

Regarded by Beethoven as his greatest work, his Missa Solemnis is surely a ‘bucket list’ piece to experience and marvel at for all music lovers.

Missa Solemnis

Llandaff Cathedral

Performances of Beethoven's Ninth at the Laeiszhalle around the turn of the year have long since become a popular tradition. With the work, which was premiered around 200 years ago, the composer made music history with the fourth movement, as he introduced the use of vocal soloists and choir into an unusually comprehensive symphony, which was to change the genre forever. Schiller's "Ode to Joy", set to music in it, conveys a vision of universal brotherhood and unity of all people that extends beyond national and cultural boundaries. Beethoven set the words to emotionally powerful music that Berlioz praised as "unsurpassably great", Mendelssohn Bartholdy praised as "the highest that a human being can achieve", Wagner paid homage to as "the human gospel of the art of the future" and elicited the moving verdict from Tchaikovsky: "Beethoven's Ninth is not only the greatest, but also the most human of all symphonies."

A Hamburg tradition at the turn of the year

Laeiszhalle Hamburg

With the brief Schicksalslied, Johannes Brahms composed one of the highlights of Romantic choral music, evoking the tragic atmosphere of a poem where Hölderlin sings of destiny in a few words. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart unintentionally created his own requiem mass: he wrote the Requiem upon the request of an anonymous commissioner but passed away before its completion. Based on Mozart's notes, his pupil Frans Xavier Süssmayr prepared the iconic masterpiece for eternity, featuring unmistakable echoes of Bach's contrapuntal virtuosity and the influence of Händel. Honorary conductor Philippe Herreweghe is globally recognized for this period. Alongside the Collegium Vocale Gent, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra prepares for an undoubtedly memorable tour across various Flemish cities.

Sophie Harmsen

Events

Past events

Jul 25, 2025

Beethoven: Missa solemnis · Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival

Apr 11, 2025

BBC NOW - Missa Solemnis · Brangwyn Hall

Future and recently performed repertoire

Singer in Schicksalslied by Brahms

Antwerp Symphony Orchestra

Singer in Missa solemnis by Beethoven

Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival

Singer in Requiem in D minor by Mozart

Antwerp Symphony Orchestra

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