Missa solemnis op. 123 - 13. Teil

During the winter of 1819/20, Beethoven was living at Trautsongasse 2, and working hard on the “Credo” from his “Missa Solemnis” in D major, op. 123. The mass, which was finished in 1823, was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, a pupil and patron of Beethoven who was also a close friend. Although the mass was composed to mark Rudolph’s appointment as Archbishop of Olomouc, it was considered too big to be performed in a church. The first performance took place in a concert hall in St Petersburg in 1824.

The extract here is the final section of the Credo (Grave). The recording dates from 1928, and was the first to include the full work. It features the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bruno Kittel Chorus, conducted by Bruno Kittel himself (1870–1948). The difficult solo quartet part (sung here by Lotte Leonard, Eleanor Schlosshauer-Reynolds, Eugen Transy and Wilhelm Guttmann) is particularly prominent in this section. Although the number of singers required to perform the Missa Solemnis pushed the recording technology of the time to its limits, if you listen closely you can still distinguish between the chorus, the orchestra and the soloists.
(Julia Nobis)