Beethoven – Missa Solemnis

Southampton Philharmonic Choir & Southampton University Philharmonic Choir

Displaying all the emotional power and intensity one associates with mature Beethoven, the Missa Solemnis has rightly established itself as one of the true masterpieces of western culture, on a par with J.S. Bach’s B minor Mass and St Matthew Passion. Beethoven’s large-scale work is truly symphonic in every sense, closer to the Choral Symphony in scale and ambition than to earlier settings of the Liturgy. Scored for four soloists, large chorus and with orchestration, rich in colour and rhythmic vitality; each movement is a tour de force, dramatic, lyrical, inventive and superbly crafted. Highlights include a gigantic fugue at the end of the Credo that was thought to be impossible to sing or play, and at the other extreme the hauntingly beautiful violin solo that accompanies the solo voices in the Benedictus. This is a work that every music lover should hear at least once, and many will want to return to again and again for an uplifting spiritual experience and to marvel at the achievement of mankind – and of one true compositional genius in particular.

For this concert, which marks the 50th anniversary of the association of the Southampton University Philharmonic Choir (formerly known as the University Choral Society) with the SPC, the combined chorus of over 180 voices is joined by the stylish New London Sinfonia and four fabulous soloists.