# Christ on the Mount of Olives (Beethoven)

Christus am Ölberge (in English, Christ on the Mount of Olives), Op. 85, is an oratorio by Ludwig van Beethoven portraying the emotional turmoil of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane prior to his crucifixion. It was begun in the fall of 1802, soon after his completion of the Heiligenstadt Testament, as indicated by evidence in the Wielhorsky sketchbook. The libretto in German is by the poet Franz Xaver Huber [de], editor of the Wiener Zeitung, with whom Beethoven worked closely. It was written in a very short period; in a letter to Breitkopf & Härtel written shortly after the oratorio's completion, Beethoven spoke of having written it in "a few weeks", although he later claimed that the piece required no more than 14 days to complete. It was first performed on April 5, 1803 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna; in 1811, it was revised by Beethoven for publication by Breitkopf & Härtel. The 10 years that passed between the composition of the work and its publication resulted in its being assigned a relatively high opus number. The piece premiered in the United States in 1809; it was Beethoven's first success in the United States.

## Composition

The work is a dramatic oratorio and is considered a much more humanistic portrayal of the Christ passion than other settings, such as those by Bach. It concludes at the point of Jesus personally accepting his fate, placing the emphasis on his own decision rather than the later Crucifixion or Resurrection. The oratorio is scored for soprano, tenor, and bass soloists, with standard SATB chorus and symphony orchestra. The tenor sings as Jesus, with the soprano as a seraph (angel) and the bass as Peter. A complete performance lasts approximately 50 minutes.
Beethoven's only oratorio, he was quite critical of the piece and of the performance of the orchestra and chorus at its premiere. He panned Huber's libretto, saying, in an 1824 letter to the Gesellschaft für Musikfreunde, "Let us leave out of consideration the value of poems of this sort. We all know that allowances are to be made... so far as I am concerned, I would rather set Homer, Klopstock, Schiller to music. If they offer difficulties to overcome, these immortal poets at least are worthy of it." (Beethoven eventually did set Schiller to music in his monumental Ninth Symphony, nearly twenty years after the oratorio.) The editors at Breitkopf & Härtel agreed with Beethoven's critical assessment of the text, and Christian Schreiber was enlisted to make massive changes to the libretto. However, upon reviewing the changes, Beethoven still was not happy, saying, "I know that the text is extremely bad, but if even a bad text is conceived as a whole entity, it is very difficult to avoid disrupting it by individual corrections".

## Structure

The composition consists of six movements.
    1. Introduction (Grave – Adagio) in E♭ minor – Recitative „Jehova, du, mein Vater!“ – Aria (Allegro) „Meine Seele ist erschüttert!“ in c minor
    2. Recitative „Erzittre, Erde, Jehovahs Sohn liegt hier“ in A major – Aria (Larghetto) „Preist des Erlösers Güte“ in G major – Chorus (Allegro) „Oh, Heil euch, ihr Erlösten!“ in G major
    3. Recitative „Verkündet, Seraph, mir dein Mund“ – Duet (Adagio molto) „So ruhe denn mit ganzer Schwere“ in A♭ major
    4. Recitative „Willkommen, Tod!“ in F major – Chorus (Alla marcia) „Wir haben ihn gesehen“ in C major
    5. Recitative (Tempo della Marcia) „Die mich zu fangen ausgezogen sind“ – Chorus (Allegro molto) „Hier ist er, hier ist er“ in D major
    6. Recitative (Molto allegro) „Nicht ungestraft soll der Verwegnen Schar“ – Trio and chorus (Allegro ma non troppo) „In meinen Adern wühlen“ in B♭ major – Chorus with solo (Molto allegro) „Auf, auf, eingreifet der verräter – Final chorus (Maestoso – Allegro) „Welten singen“ - „Preiset ihn, ihr Engelschöre“ in C major

## Instrumentation

    SATB choir
    3 soloists (soprano, tenor and bass)
    2 flutes
    2 oboes
    2 clarinets in B♭
    2 bassoons
    2 trumpets in D and E♭
    2 horns in B♭, C, D and E♭
    3 trombones (alto, tenor and bass)
    timpani
    1st violins
    2nd violins
    violas
    cellos
    double basses
The soloists are personas: the soprano is a Seraph, the tenor is Jesus and the bass is the apostle Peter.

## Reception

The critical response to the work's initial performance was mixed; while the Zeitung für die Elegante Welt's critic wrote that the oratorio contained "a few admirable passages", a review in the Freymüthige Blätter called the piece "too artificial in structure and lacking expressiveness, especially in the vocal music", and claimed that the performance "was unable to achieve really marked approbation". It has since drifted somewhat into obscurity, and is rarely performed, being regarded by some as falling below Beethoven's usual standards of excellence. However, despite conflicting contemporary critical reports and Beethoven's own misgivings about the libretto, "...after its premiere in 1803 the work was performed four times in 1804, and repeated every year, always drawing full houses, until it was banned in 1825 by the Hofmusikgraf."
The "Welten singen..." finale chorus has enjoyed some popularity on its own, usually being rendered as a "Hallelujah", frequently performed by church, high school, and college choirs.

## Recordings

| Year | Soloists (Jesus, Seraph, Peter) | Conductor, Orchestra and Chorus | Label |
| 1957 | Fritz Wunderlich, Erna Spoorenberg, Hermann Schey | Henk Spruit, Radio Philharmonisch Orkest and Groot Omroepkoor | BellaVoce |
| 1962 | Jan Peerce, Maria Stader, Otto Wiener | Hermann Scherchen, Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Vienna Academy Chorus | Westminster |
| 1963 | Reinhold Barthel, Liselotte Rebmann, August Messthaler | Josef Bloser, Stuttgart Philharmonic and the South German Choral Society | Vox/Turnabout |
| 1963 | Richard Lewis, Judith Raskin, Herbert Beattie | Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Temple University Choirs | Columbia Masterworks |
| c.1965 | Radko Delorco, Margit Opawsky, Walter Berry | Henry Swoboda, Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Vienna Academy Chorus | Concert Hall Society |
| 1970 | Nicolai Gedda, Cristina Deutekom, Hans Sotin | Volker Wangenheim, Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn, and choirs | EMI |
| 1970 | James King, Elizabeth Harwood, Franz Crass | Bernhard Klee Vienna Symphony and Wiener Singverein | Deutsche Grammophon |
| 1970 | József Réti [de], Sylvia Geszty, Hermann Christian Polster | Helmut Koch Berliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester | Eterna |
| 1992 | James Anderson, Monica Pick-Hieronimi, Victor van Halem | Serge Baudo Orchestre National de Lyon, with chorus | Harmonia Mundi |
| 1994 | Michael Brodard, Maria Venuti, Keith Lewis | Helmuth Rilling Bach-Collegium Stuttgart and Gächinger Kantorei | Hänssler Classic |
| 2000 | Steve Davislim, Simone Kermes, Eike Wilm Schulte | Christoph Spering Das Neue Orchester and Chorus Musicus Köln | Opus 111 |
| 2004 | Plácido Domingo, Ľuba Orgonášová, Andreas Schmidt | Kent Nagano Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Rundfunkchor Berlin | Harmonia Mundi |
| 2020 | Pavol Breslik, Elsa Dreisig, David Soar | Simon Rattle London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus | LSO Live |