Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis as a Holy Mass
“It is hard to say if Beethoven somehow expressed this 'confession of faith' in the Missa Solemnis. Another creed, however, was definitely applied, one that Beethoven noted in his journal in the year 1820: ‘The moral law in us, and the star-studded heaven above us. [Immanuel] Kant!!!’ [...] I find two details from Beethoven’s entry of this sentence into his journal especially revealing: the underlining [of the entire sentence] and the three exclamation points. '!!!' may be translated into music as 'fff', a dynamic which appears quite often in the Missa Solemnis.” The Egyptologist Prof. Jan Assmann’s latest book is entirely dedicated to Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. To discuss Beethoven’s magnum opus and its relationship to Christian worship, Prof. Assmann is joined by Father Dr. Martin Mayerhofer of the International Theological Institute Trumau, Tilman Hecker, Artistic Director of the Pandemic-era music installation The World to Come and Hans Rehberg, Choir Director of the Radio Choir of Berlin.