Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (Cambridge Music Handbooks) - Softcover

Drabkin, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521378311 ISBN 13: 9780521378314

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1991

Synopsis

The Missa Solemnis is a document of extraordinary richness from the last decades of Beethoven's creative life. In this accessible guide, William Drabkin considers the work as an expression of the most celebrated text of the Roman Catholic faith and as an example from a tradition of Mass settings in eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Austria. The opening chapters present various critical perspectives on the Missa Solemnis and chart the history of its composition, first performances, and publication. But, above all, the work itself is considered in detail, including the overall design, connections between the movements, the orchestration, word painting, and programmatic elements.

About this title

Book Description:

The mass is analyzed from the perspective of being an expression of the most celebrated text of the Roman Catholic faith as well as a significant example from a tradition of Mass settings in eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Austria.

From the Back Cover:

The Missa solemnis is a document of extraordinary richness from the last decades of Beethoven's creative life. In this compendious and accessible guide, William Drabkin considers the work as a musical expression of the most celebrated text of the Roman Catholic faith, and as an example from a tradition of Mass settings in eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century Austria.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0521378311
• ISBN 13: 9780521378314
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 134