Mass in C major (Beethoven)
| Mass in C major | |
|---|---|
| by Ludwig van Beethoven | |
Beethoven around 1805, detail of a portrait by Joseph Willibrord Mähler
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| Key | C major |
| Catalogue | Op. 86 |
| Text |
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| Dedication | |
| Performed | 13 September 1807: Eisenstadt |
| Published | 1812: Leipzig |
| Publisher | Breitkopf & Härtel |
| Scoring |
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Ludwig van Beethoven composed the Mass in C major, Op. 86, to a commission from Prince Nikolaus Esterházy II in 1807. The mass, scored for four vocal soloists, choir and orchestra, was premiered that year by the Prince's musical forces in Eisenstadt. Beethoven performed parts of it in his 1808 concert featuring the premieres of four major works including his Fifth Symphony. The mass was published in 1812 by Breitkopf & Härtel.
While the Prince who commissioned the mass was not pleased, the contemporary critic E. T. A. Hoffmann appreciated the "expression of a childlike serene mind", while Michael Moore notes the music's "directness and an emotional content".
Beethoven had studied counterpoint in Vienna with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, an authority in the field, but had not turned to sacred music until late in his career. He received a commission from Prince Nikolaus Esterházy II in 1807, extending a tradition established by Joseph Haydn, who for decades had served as the family's Kapellmeister (music director). Following his return from England in 1795, Haydn had composed one mass per year for the Esterházy family, to celebrate the name day of the Prince's wife. Haydn had ceased this tradition with the failure of his health in 1802. Beethoven was fully aware of the tradition that Haydn had established and it influenced him strongly in writing the Mass in C major. Beethoven confessed in a letter to the prince: "may I just say that I will hand the mass over to you with great trepidation, as Your Serene Highness is accustomed to having the inimitable masterworks of the great Haydn performed."Lewis Lockwood writes:
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