GULBENKIAN CHOIR
GULBENKIAN ORCHESTRA
PAUL MCCREESH (conductor)
CAMILLA TILLING (soprano)
ANN HALLENBERG (mezzo-soprano)
ALLAN CLAYTON (tenor)
NEAL DAVIES (bass)

Ludwig van Beethoven
Missa solemnis, em Ré Maior, op. 123

«The day on which a High Mass composed by me is performed during the ceremonies solemnized for Your Imperial Highness will be the most glorious day of my life; and God will enlighten me so that my poor talents may contribute to the glorification of that day». These were the words of Beethoven in June 1819 when he learned that his patron Rudolph, Archduke of Austria, had been appointed Archbishop. To mark the occasion, the composer devoted himself to such an exhaustive study of religious music that his Missa solemnis was only completed three years after the ceremony for which he began to compose it.