Missa Solemnis, No. 3: Credo

With each intonation of ' Kyrie ' the music swells and then backs off, all the while building in energy. A audio clip follows. Opening Text of Kyrie. This is a traditional technique used in the mass that Beethoven borrowed from previous centuries. First the key modulates into the relative minor B minor which creates a darker, more solemn mood. The text is initially only entrusted to the soloist. There is also a noticeable use of thirds, which is another allusion to the trinity. After the Christe the music transitions back to D major briefly, but quickly modulates to the subdominant G major.

A transition period then follows, finally resolving to the goal of D major right at the end of the movement.

This forms a basic ABA' structure for the Kyrie again in the manner of previously masses. It is worthwhile to note that in no other movement are the chorus and soloists so integrated as in the Kyrie. Opening Motto in Gloria. The opening flourish to the Gloria heard above serves as a motto which recurs in several places throughout the Gloria.

Most evident in this movement is the use of word painting. Beethoven uses music to add significance to the text -- bring the music down low for solemn parts and really letting it go strong during the Gloria! Such occupation with dramatic detail makes it unsuitable for liturgical perfomance.

He couldn't resist ending with shouts of Gloria! Closing Bars in Gloria. It is characterized by vivd color, provided by lots of orchestration. At the beginning, Beethoven introduces a simple, but very memorable theme which is sung, in fugal form, by each part of the choir. This theme, which Beethoven thereafter associates with the word "Credo", is heard at various points throughout the movement. Credo When the music arrives at the phrase, "Et incarnatus est de spiritu sancto ex Maria virgine" and became incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary , Beethoven utilizes a method characteristic of older religious music composers.

In the 18th century, modes were closely identified with the idea of the supernatural, so he decides to use it here at a critical point in the text. Like composers before him, he employs a specific mode just as the text is speaking of the Holy Ghost, thus incorporating a tradition of older church music into his own. In this instance, Beethoven decides to use Dorian mode, which is explained as follows: A comparison of the interval scales between each mode shows how they are related. To identify the key signature of a specific scale in Dorian mode, simply take the beginning note and bring it down one whole step.

The note that it lands on is the tonic of the major key with the key signature that should be used for the Dorian. For example, Dorian D has the same key signature as the key of C major, which has no accidentals. Dorian E has the same key signature as the key of D major, which has F and C , and so on Listen now to the use of Dorian D in conjunction with the phrase, "Et incarnatus A very clear example of this is the presence of a solo flute in the background while the soloists are singing the phrase, "Et incarnatus In this short clip, the flute is very obvious.

Flute By this time, the key has modulated from Dorian D to D Major, in association with the words of the text. Then, abruptly, the key changes to parallel d minor, just as the tenor reaches the phrase, "Crucifixus etiam pro nobis" He was crucified also for us. Also present in this section is the utilization of sharp sforzandos and syncopated rhythms, which jolt the listener into images of suffering.

Try to pinpoint the exact moment when the music changes. Crucifixus Shortly after the crucifixion, Beethoven employs another tool used by his predecessors. As the choir reaches the phrase, "Et resurrexit tertia die" And the third day He arose again , the music consists of numerous upward running scales. These symbolize a musical resurrection of sorts; the music gives the listener a feeling of uprising emotion.

This movement is characterized by the tonality of D Major, which corresponds to a hopeful, optimistic text. Lord" , sung on a single repeated note by the chorus, is a good example for this eminently dramatic approach to the text. It is only after the tone has been set by these powerful single chords that a gentler melodic figure is introduced on? The more isolated gestures contrast with a more continuous melodic flow in the? Christe," begun by the four soloists; the sustained motion is generated by polyphonic imitation. The Gloria and Credo movements always present composers with special challenges because of the great length of their texts.

Many composers have broken up these texts into several independent movements to make them more manageable, but Beethoven opted for a single uninterrupted musical statement, unified by a recapitulation of the opening? Gloria" theme at the very end, and of the? Credo" theme numerous times throughout the movement. In between those motivic restatements, we have a wide variety of motifs in different keys, tempos and orchestrations, as dictated by the emotional content of the individual words and lines.

Starting and ending with an ecstatic praise of God, the? Gloria" passes through moments of introspection and even temporary despair: We give you thanks".

Past Performances

After a brief return to the original? Gloria" mood, we reach the heart of the movement with? You who take away the sins of the world" , where the tempo drops to Larghetto and the quartet of soloists intones an intimate plea for mercy. For you alone are holy" , private prayer once again changes to public worship. Tradition demanded that the? Gloria" movement end with a fugue, but in the present case, the music takes a dramatic turn when, after an emphatic restateme nt of the theme in slow motion augmentation , to use the technical term , the excitement reaches fever pitch as the tempo suddenly increases.

It is at the climactic moment of this development that the theme from the beginning of the movement returns in a faster tempo than the first time , closing the circle at the end of a fascinating spiritual journey. The next movement, the? Credo," is another spiritual journey, even more complex than the previous one. The abstract theological nature of its text has always represented a major challenge to composers; the dogmas of the Catholic Church, as codified in the Nicene Creed from the year , do not lend themselves naturally to musical treatment.

Beethoven set the first word,? I believe" to a short and pithy motif that serves as the glue holding the entire movement together. From the start, the I receives at least as much emphasis as the believe , yet there is definite shift at the words qui propter nos homines? Credo" centers around a slow middle section which, in this case, begins with the words? And He became incarnate". The birdsong-like high trills of the flute during this section depict the Holy Spirit, often represented in paintings as a dove. The musical image of Resurrection, immediately following, maximizes dramatic contrast and leads directly to the recapitulation, inevitable here because of the reappearance of the word?

Credo" in the text.

Beethoven: Missa solemnis, Op. (Live) by Ludwig van Beethoven on Spotify

Here Beethoven rather quickly passes over a few articles of faith especially the reference to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church to arrive at another major choral fugue on the words? Et vitam venturi saeculi"? And to life ever after". The fugue culminates in an extremely elaborate treatment of the word? Amen," including a cadenza for the four solo singers resembling an analogous moment near the end of the Ninth Symphony.

Sanctus," the solemn proclamation of God's holiness was not a matter of exuberant fanfares; he approached it, rather, like a mystery, with some rather unusual harmonic progressions and a choral recitative where the singers seem almost tongue-tied in their awe before the incomprehensible. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua"? Heaven and earth are full of your glory" , a true celebration begins, but-after a brief, ecstatic? Osanna"-we come to another moment of introspection, perhaps the most powerful of all: Benedictus," with its famous violin solo.

This exquisite movement is introduced by a dark and subdued orchestral? Preludium" after which the violin solo enters, on a high note,? After so many harmonically complex passages earlier in the Mass, the pure G major sonorities of the Benedictus are a perfect expression of the solace brought to the world by the arrival of? Him who comes in the name of the Lord. Benedictus," the liturgy calls for a repeat of the?

Osanna," but contrary to traditional usage, Beethoven did not repeat the ecstatic music of the first? Benedictus," he kept its the tempo and character all the way to the end. The monumental work is crowned by the? Agnus Dei," in which a gentle supplication for mercy intensifies into a fervent plea for peace. Opening with a bass solo in the lowest register of the low male voice, Beethoven gradually brings in all the voices and finally, at the words? Grant us peace" , introduces one of the most memorably melodies of the entire composition.

At this point, Beethoven wrote into the score: An appeal for inner and outer peace.

To place his vision of peace into sharper relief, Beethoven twice conjures up images of war. An ominous drumroll and distant trumpet calls threaten that vision, and the recitative of the soloists sounds?

Missa Solemnis

The second time following an extended orchestral interlude , the noises of war provoke a positively terrified response from the entire chorus, and the? The work concludes with a restatement of the great? In the words of William Kinderman,? The end of the Mass is left ambiguous, since a prayer for peace is far from being its fulfillment. In the Missa solemnis the ultimate goal for human aspiration is located in a transcendental quest.

Mass in D Major, Op. 123, "Missa solemnis": No. 3, Credo

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