The Greatest Music of the West

[David]

I know, a dramatic thread title, & some probably think it a pompous one. But I want to share a work of music that means more to me than any other music, & one that I believe will usher me out when that time comes. It's the titanic fugue that closes out the Et resurrexit of the Credo of one of Beethoven's late-period masterpieces, the Missa Solemnis (Op. 123), which was dedicated to Beethoven's friend & pupil, the Archduke Rudolph. It's not a very popular work, especially by Beethoven standards, but I consider it the most original & powerful music ever written.

In this particular section of the Credo, Beethoven sets the words Et vitam venturi saeculi (And the life of the world to come) to a great fugue in a major key, & it builds & builds & climaxes with a doubling of its tempo (making it fiendishly difficult to sing). What it meant to Beethoven, no one knows. To me, it represents what the poet Seidl wrote in a graveside tribute to Beethoven in 1827:

Listen to the psalms of his choruses of supplication & you will see a heart that orbits God's throne.

A friend of Beethoven's reported that Beethoven's personality changed during the four-year-long composition of the Missa. The friend visited him at one point during the onslaught, & wrote that: "In the living room, behind a locked door, we heard the master singing parts of the fugue in the Credo -- singing, howling, stamping. The door opened & Beethoven stood before us with distorted features, calculated to excite fear. He looked as if he had been in mortal combat with the whole host of contrapuntists, his everlasting enemies."



I've included a scan of all eleven pages of the fugue (from the piano reduction of the score published in Austria) along with an MP3 of a recording (conducted by Eliot Gardiner). You can click on the thumbnails & get a full-size image of each page of the music. I had to put the final three pages in a second post. I hope whoever listens to this enjoys it!

et vitam venturi.mp3 - 4.43MB

[David]

Pages 9, 10 & 11:

[michelle2677]

alright i'll bite. i downloaded it, but i'm off to bed. might listen to it on my way home tomorrow. thanks for uploading.

[strandinthewind]

1. A Mass with trombones -- swoon indeed!

2. I have always liked this work - though it rarely is played, which is remiss on the part of the hoi polloi.

Finally, it does not reach the zenith shared, indeed resurrected, by his phrasing of:

O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
Sondern laßt uns angenehmere
anstimmen und freudenvollere.
Freude! Freude!
Freude, schöner Götterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium

for which, in my book, there is no equal - I mean it literally is two symphonies occuring in tangent, though one seemingly within the other. I must admit, he comes in the Ninth's orbit with the Credo in the Missa Solemnis, the title of which belies its joy.

Thanks for posting this beautiful work.

On edit and somewhat comparing apples and oranges, in some strange way, Missa Solemnis reminds me a little of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto In A, K 622 - 2 (Adagio) -- though one is a Mass and the other a Concert - moreover, likely none will get the connection but me, so be it. The performance by Alfred Prinz, Karl Böhm; Vienna Philharmonic Orchestrais is my fav., to wit:

http://download.yousendit.com/63DB6D186685C8B5

[strandinthewind]

Also, David - what do you think of this

http://download.yousendit.com/41F9D6E923BCC3D7

It is "Vide Cor Meum" from the motion picture "Hannibal" and is by Patrick Cassidy (music Hans Zimmer) based on Dante's "La Vita Nuova", specifically on the sonnet "A ciascun'alma presa", in chapter 3 of the Vita Nuova. Mercifully, it was used in other settings as well. So, it got more exposure.

I think the words are brilliant - so tragic and sublime. Love that rare is a great thing and those who have had it that strong likely would eat that heart, particularly in the timber of the tenor in the final phrase? The nine year old Dante's eight year old Beatrice must have something to say the least.

E pensando di lei
Mi sopragiunse uno soave sonno

Ego dominus tuus
Vide cor tuum
E d'esto core ardendo
Cor tuum
(Chorus: Lei paventosa)
Umilmente pascea.
Appreso gir lo ne vedea piangendo.

La letizia si convertia
In amarissimo pianto

Io sono in pace
Cor meum
Io sono in pace
Vide cor meum