Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis

The Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir are going on a joint tour to Denmark and the US, led by conductor Thomas Dausgaard. Beethoven worked on Missa Solemnis for four years, while fighting for custody of his deceased brother’s children, and was himself afflicted by recurring illness episodes. The mass is considered to be among Beethoven’s finest works, and when it was first performed, at the same concert as his ninth symphony, the then almost completely deaf composer was met with ovations and applause that never wanted to stop.