Beethoven. Missa C-duur

Fri, 19 December 19.00 Vanemuine Concert Hall

Sat, 20 December 19.00 Estonia Concert Hall

Beethoven. Mass in C major

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra

Conductor: Tõnu Kaljuste

Programme:

Beethoven. Mass in C major op. 86

Music transcends all wisdom and philosophy. Whoever truly understands my music will find liberation from the suffering that plagues humanity.

– Ludwig van Beethoven

Throughout history, musical innovators have faced skepticism and misunderstanding, trusting that future listeners would appreciate their masterpieces. This was certainly the case for Ludwig van Beethoven and his Mass in C major. Its broad musical scope and innovative style baffled his contemporaries, leading to harsh criticism. A disappointed Prince Nikolaus II Eszterházy, who had commissioned the work, famously asked, "But my dear Beethoven, what have you done?

Today, the composition is celebrated as a key work in vocal repertoire, despite initial resistance from Beethoven’s contemporaries. Though some passages, following conventional mass form, echo Haydn or Mozart, the piece, as a whole, presents a more dynamic, dramatic, and vividly contrasting soundscape than the early 19th-century Viennese audience was used to

In collaboration with Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Philharmonic Society.