The UCT (SACM) orchestra along with the Symphony Choir of Cape Town will be performing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. The event takes place on October 15, 2019 in the Sarah Baartman Hall. The full UCT (SACM) orchestra along with an augmented Symphony Choir of Cape Town will be conducted by Alexander Fokkens.
From the meditative Kyrie to the ecstatic Gloria, through the Credo to the softly personal Sanctus, which evolves into a rousing Benedictus, and finally the theatrical Agnus Dei, a full orchestra and choir sweep the audience through a panoply of emotions.
Beethoven spent about four years composing the work when he was at the peak of his powers and invested much of himself in it. As preparation he apparently undertook an intensive study of religious music of the past from monastic chants to Handel’s Messiah (he incorporated the melody of “And He Shall Reign” into his Dona nobis pacem) and of Mozart’s Requiem. Some have noted the result was an amalgam of styles, rooted in older traditions but empowered with the grandeur of the symphony of which Beethoven was the undoubted master.
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