Although many volumes of books have been published about Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, at this point there appears that little has appeared on the Internet. This site is an attempt to change that by compiling information available in print and make it, along with the added dimension of multimedia, available to users of the World Wide Web. It is intended to be a part of a larger collection of classical music related documents currently being compilied by Professor Tom Neenan at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.
Note: These pages are under heavy construction. A in the upper lefthand corner indicates pages that are not yet complete. The scheduled completion date is May 29, 1996.
The following is essentially a table of contents to the information available on this web site.
Background
A brief biographical account of Beethoven's life prior to and during the composition of the Missa Solemnis along with some
notes about Beethoven's compositional processes
Beethoven's Religous Views
Beethoven's religious feelings which served as a backdrop to the composition of the Missa Solemnis
General Information on the Missa Solemnis
Some important information about the mass, including the orchestration and the text of the mass (in latin side by side with its
english translation) as used in the Missa Solemnis
Historical Circumstances
Historical circumstances preceding the Missa Solemnis
Compositional History of the Missa Solemnis
A brief summary of the compositional development of the Missa Solemnis
A Movement by Movement Analysis of the Missa Solemnis
The Purpose
Beethoven's purpose in writing the Missa Solemnis
Additional Related Web Resources
Some other sources of information about Beethoven and his music.