Beethoven and the Open Fifth in Bar 372 of the Missa

[David]

A lot of you have PM'd me asking about what the influence might have been for the open 5th in bar 372 of the Missa Solemnis Credo fugato.

Beethoven scholars, including Maynard Solomon, Alan Kerman, & Charles Rosen, have recently uncovered evidence in the Tagebuch that Beethoven's aunt Tipsy-Bessie (on his father's side) visited her nephew while he was writing, & told him to add that open 5th in bar 372.

According to Schindler & other witnesses, Beethoven picked up a chair & tried to brain his aunt, but she successfully dodged his onslaught, sidestepping deftly, & returned a successful one-two right to his kisser, which laid him out flat like a halibut.