Spiritus - Beethoven: Mass in C, Weber: Mass in G, Hummel: Mass in E flat, Schubert: Mass in B flat / Giulini, Wilhelm, Sawallisch / EMI Classics 2x Audio CD 1997 Stereo

UPC 724356632929

Ludwig van Beethoven composed the Mass in C major, Op. 86, to a commission from Prince Nikolaus Esterházy II in 1807. The mass, scored for four vocal soloists, choir and orchestra, was premiered that year by the Prince's musical forces in Eisenstadt. Beethoven performed parts of it in his 1808 concert featuring the premieres of four major works including his Fifth Symphony. The mass was published in 1812 by Breitkopf & Härtel.

Both the Prince and contemporary critic E. T. A. Hoffmann were generally displeased by the work, though the latter still considered it "entirely worthy of the great master [because of its] innerstructure [and] intelligent orchestration". The work has since been overshadowed by the later and better known Missa solemnis, though critics such as Michael Moore have noted the Mass in C major's superiority in "directness and an emotional content".

Tracklist:

1.  Ludwig Van Beethoven - Mass in C, Op. 86

2.  Carl Maria Von Weber - Missa sancta No. 2 in G ''Jubelmesse'', J. 251 (Op. 76)

3.  Johann Nepomuk Hummel - Mass No. 2 in E flat, Op. 80

4.  Franz Schubert - Mass No. 3 in B flat, D. 324 (Op. 141)

• Orchestra - New Philharmonia Orchestra
• Choir - New Philharmonia Chorus