ASO Insider Ken Meltzer sets the stage: “When Beethoven, struggling with health issues as well as the loss of hearing, learned of the rumors of his imminent demise, he said to a friend, ‘Wait a while; you will soon learn differently.’”
Missa Solemnis is a prime example of Beethoven’s extraordinary “Late Period.” Scored for a quartet of vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, it is a majestic work that continues to inspire reverence, awe, and perhaps some misconceptions, as well.
“The remarkable challenges placed upon the range and stamina of the singers (both the soloists and chorus) are often attributed to Beethoven’s lack of sympathy for the capabilities of the human voice, perhaps exacerbated by his hearing loss,” explains Meltzer.
But Meltzer thinks that quite possibly the superhuman vocal demands were precisely what Beethoven intended. He quotes from the composer’s letter to a friend shortly before the work’s premiere: “My chief aim was to awaken and permanently instill religious feelings not only into the singers but also the listeners.”
“Beethoven understood, perhaps as well as anyone, the fortitude required to maintain one’s faith when confronting life’s challenges,” notes Meltzer, “and did not hesitate to portray those challenges in his Missa Solemnis.” But he feels that struggle makes the triumphant finale of the Missa Solemnis all the more gratifying and fulfills Beethoven’s fervent wish, inscribed at the top of the score: “From the Heart – May it Return to the Heart.”
The luminous soprano Christine Brewer, who is a soloist in the performances here, takes it from there: “My first experience with Missa Solemnis was with Maestro Robert Shaw, a man near and dear to the folks in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. I felt a bit like it was baptism by fire whenever doing a new piece like that with Mr. Shaw. I remember him telling me that he found Missa Solemnis to be one of the greatest choral works ever written, and that it was his favorite piece to conduct. He followed this by saying to me, ‘So don’t screw this up, Miss Brewer!’
“No matter how many times I sing this piece, I approach it like it is the first time. I was proud to sing in Donald [Runnicles]’s first Missa Solemnis a few years back. Donald brought such depth and beauty to the piece, I will never forget it.”
Brewer first encountered the Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor in 2000 in London, when she sang her first Brunnhilde in Act III of Wagner’s Die Walkure with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. “That started our relationship with Wagner, Beethoven and Strauss,” she says. “I’ve done operas, concerts and recitals with Donald over the past 10 years and made several recordings with him, most recently Great Strauss Scenes which was released this year. We have a wonderful relationship and I always look forward to our musical collaborations.”
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Karl Schnittke is the Encore Atlanta program notes editor for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
