jmc's classics
I went to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Concert this evening and returned home. I usually go the weekend before Thanksgiving weekend. There Was just one work on the bill Beethoven's Missa Solemnis "Solemn Mass" in D (Opus #123). It lasted an hour and 15 minutes. They Symphony Chorus were there plus four soloists: Kelly O'Connor (Mezzo), Joelle Harvey (Soprano), Stuart Skelton (Tenor) and Shenyang (Basso). The female soloists are American, The Tenors Australian and the Basso is Chinese. When you think of opera singers you don't usually think of Chinese.
Beethoven like Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, R. Strauss, Debussy and Mendelssohn can be written a lot about because they are popular and very storied. When we think of Beethoven we do not usually think of religious music. This was one of his most important works and one that he highly regarded. He wrote one other setting of the Catholic Mass. J.S. Bach who was Lutheran was wrote settings for the Mass. Beethoven was a Catholic. Bach on the other hand is associate with religious music. he wrote music for use in the Lutheran church. The mass is the basic Catholic worship service. it is also used in the episcopal church or the high Episcopal church. Until the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) The Mass was said in Latin not the local language. now it is usually in the local language. I am not Catholic. The piece is in five movements: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. It is part of the Ordinary Mass which is standard mass during the year. Additional hymns for the season are added plus the Bible readings. it was first performed in St. Petersburg Russia on April 7, 1824 of all Places. The Russians are Orthodox and the Catholic Church was at times looked on with suspicion in Russia. The piece was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph who was a member of the Austrian Royal Family and was made Archbishop of Olomouc and was eventually made a cardinal. It has a lot of melodies that are typically associate with Beethoven. It can be likened to a five movement symphony. This is one of his more famous pieces. It is both typical and non typical of Beethoven in that it sounds like a Beethoven piece and that Beethoven did not write much other religious music. One of the more famous religious piece that he wrote was Christ on the Mount of Olives (Opus#85) which I am not familiar with right now. As mentioned earlier, Chinese are not associated with Opera. Australians have produced a good amount of Opera singers. Russia has produced a good amount or operatic Bassos
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