Messe in C-Dur für vier Solostimmen, Chor und Orchester op. 86

Listening samples

	Kyrie (365 kB)
	Gloria (365 kB)
	Credo (365 kB)
	Sanctus (365 kB)
	Agnus Dei (365 kB)

Composition
Beginn spätestens Winter 1806 / 1807, Abschluss vor 13. September 1807
dedicated to Ferdinand Johann Nepomuk Fürst Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau

Beethoven wrote his first liturgical piece, the mass in C major, op. 86, not of his own accord but for Prince Nikolaus II. Esterházy von Galantha (1765-1833), Joseph Haydn's longtime employer, who had ordered the composition for the saint's day of his wife, Princess Josepha Maria Hermengild. Every year on September 8th, a mass with special musical accompaniment was celebrated. Between 1796 and 1802 Haydn provided the music and set the standard. When Beethoven accepted the order in the spring of 1807, he showed much respect for Haydn and wrote Esterházy in July 1807 that he would fearfully deliver the mass as the Prince was accustomed to listen to the matchless compositions of the great Haydn. Beethoven's worries proved necessary. Not that he lacked the skills or could not be compared to Haydn. Neither did he disapprove of composing masses as he later told publisher Härtel. Still, he had good reason to fear the Prince's taste. The piece did not find Esterházy's approval and he was quite dissatisfied with the composition. After the mass in Eisenstadt on September 13th, 1807, he reprimanded the composer: "Alas, my dear Beethoven, what did you do?" In a letter to Countess Henriette Zielinska, the Prince was even more explicit: "La messe de Beethoven est insuportablement ridicule et detestable, je ne suis pas convaincu qu'elle puisse meme paroitre honêtement: J'en suis colerè et honteux" (Beethoven's mass is intolerably ridiculous and awful. I doubt it can be called honourable. I am enraged and ashamed).
Beethoven did not take the Prince's disapproval personal but believed in the quality of his composition. He proudly told publisher Härtel in Leipzig that he did not like commenting on his mass or on himself but he believed he had treated the text in a way it had never been treated before. Ensuing ages did not dislike the piece either. These days, nobody would call op. 86 ridiculous, awful and enraging. (J.R.)

Music manuscripts
	Autograph, Fragment, op. 86, Kyrie und Gloria, Partitur
	Abschrift, op. 86, mit deutschem Text von Benedict Scholz, Chorpartitur

First editions
	Originalausgabe, op. 86, Partitur, Breitkopf und Härtel, 1667, mit handschriftlichen Eintragungen Beethovens
	Originalausgabe, op. 86, Partitur, Breitkopf und Härtel, 1667; Teilscan
	Originalausgabe, op. 86, Partitur, Breitkopf und Härtel, 1667; Teilscan
	Originalausgabe, op. 86, Klavierauszug, Breitkopf und Härtel, 4563
	Titelauflage, op. 86, Partitur, Breitkopf und Härtel, 1667
	Titelauflage, op. 86, Partitur, Breitkopf und Härtel, 1667; Teilscan
	Titelauflage, op. 86, Klavierauszug, Breitkopf und Härtel, 4563

Scores

Written documents
	Brief an Josephine Deym, Heiligenstadt, 20. September 1807
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Wien, 8. Juni 1808
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Heiligenstadt, Ende Juli 1808
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Heiligenstadt, etwa 10. Juli 1808
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Wien, 5. April 1809
	Brief an Nikolaus Simrock in Bonn, Wien, 5. Mai 1809
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Wien, 26. Juli 1809
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Wien, 22. November 1809
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Wien, Anfang Dezember 1809
	Eigentumsbestätigung für Breitkopf & Härtel, Wien, Januar 1810
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Wien, 4. Februar 1810
	Notizen und Skizzen zu einem unbekannten Werk
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Wien, 15. Oktober 1810
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Wien, 19. Februar 1811
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Wien, 28. Februar 1812
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Wien, um den 25. Mai 1812
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Teplitz, 17. Juli 1812
	Brief an Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, Franzensbad, 9. August 1812

Pictures
	Ferdinand Johann Nepomuk Fürst Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau (1781-1812) - Fotografie einer Lithographie von Josef Kriehuber, um 1920?

Literatur

J. W. McGrann, Der Hintergrund zu Beethovens Messen, Bonner Beethoven-Studien 3, 2003

	Berlin: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv
	Frankreich, Paris: Bibliothèque du Conservatoire, in: Bibliothèque nationale de France
	Ungarn, Budapest: Országos Széchényi Könyvtár
	Österreich, Eisenstadt: Esterházy-Archiv

© Beethoven-Haus Bonn
E-Mail: bibliothek@beethoven-haus-bonn.de