Missa Solemnis - Benedictus

Ludwig van Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, D dur, Opus 123, remains this blogger's favorite composition in the entire classical repertoire because of the 10 or so minutes of music (without reference to the words that accompany it) in which the solo violin weaves in and out in between voices and instruments, as if the Holy Spirit were descending upon the world, gently in the beginning, then becoming bolder, then taking a back seat to the sounds and voices people make and disappearing in moments, as if allowing Free Will to reign, then re-joining them, sometimes boldly to take charge, as if to set things right, but as is often the case, ever so timidly, to let people know that It is there, with a voice so singly unique, so ethereal and ephemeral, so wishing that people will invite It into their hearts, so wishing that their voices would be in unison with the one It has, and in Beethoven's mind, all three sounds, one from the orchestral instruments, one from the singers' vocal chords and the one from God, end together in perfection.

For Beethoven to compose this, he must have had experienced the Holy Spirit.  How else can a mortal without divine intervention come up with music so heavenly?  And for those who conduct and perform this 10 or so minutes of music to capture its spirit accurately  and to relay that to the rest of the world must also have had a certain divine intervention occurring during the performance, otherwise it would be a flat recitation of notes on paper that is merely noise, without meaning and devoid of life.

There are many performance of the Benedictus portion of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis  that are no more than braggadocio and loud unmitigated noise, like what one would hear when an enormous boulder comes crashing down onto the ground below, rather than the sound of ripplets on a mountain lake brought upon a soft breeze out of nowhere in a delicate descent from Heaven that is noticeable but never truly taking over with its presence, which is always humble (at least at the beginning and maybe at the end too), and always ready to embrace those who wish to acknowledge that it is there.

On You Tube is one such recording, capturing to the extent possible, the living Holy Spirit that in this blogger's mind must have visited Beethoven.  It was a performance conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt [1] with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe [2].  The other recording, which is not on You Tube, is a performance by the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Shaw, which, in this blogger's opinion, also accurately portrays, again to the extent possible, the spiritual experience Beethoven wished to share with the world.



[1] http://www.harnoncourt.info/en/biographie-2/
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzJU5eHQm5U  Here is the complete list of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe on You Tube:
I Kyrie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUaXEuIH6UQ
II Gloria: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=668Rnyj5AII
III Credo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyNaYXipi4A
IV Sanctus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X94e7tJ0cac
V Benedictus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzJU5eHQm5U
VI Agnus Dei https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsktgnQwGvs