Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-24
NEWS OF MUSIC
By DAY THORPE

BY DAY THORPE
Beethoven's Missa Solem-
mis-. which will be heard to-
morrow night in performance
by the Washington and Cathe-
dral Choral Societies under
Paul Galloway, is one of the
most powerful and controver-
sial works of the master.
The regard in which it was
held by its creator may be In
dicated by the fact that he Is
shown holding the score In one
Of the last portraits Of him.
The work, undertaken in
1919 for the ceremonies con-
nected with the conservation
Of Beethoven's patron, the
Archduke Rudolf as Arch
bishop Of Olmutz, was not COM
pleted in time, and the first
performance took. place in st.
Petersburg, Russia.
Beethoven never heard-or.
TO be more specific, never was
present at-a complete per-
Torrance of his mass.
Masses by Four Greats
Each OF the four great Wen
nese composers-Haydn, Mo-
Fart. Beethoven and Schubert
wrote masses, which are
among the finest creations OF
their respective geniuses. That
these works form a class OF
music that often is not con-
sidered primarily religious in
feeling by many listeners to-
day may be laid to two reasons.
In the first place, 1t is a type
Of music that is excluded by
the Motu Proprio Of Pope Plus
x, of November. 1908, from
performance in church, and is
thus ipso facto an unworthy
accessory to proper devotion.
In the second place, our
modern conception Of the SYM
phony has been formed almost
entirely by the works Of these
four composers, and as the diff
ference in style between the
symphonies and the masses Of
these men lies only in q few
external characteristics and
not in essence, many of us find
It easy to accept the notion
that what we are accustomed
to in the symphony Cannot at
the same time be religious in
sentiment.
Limits of Successfully
It is possible, however, that
no music can express i'm
plicity more than is implied
by gesture and other bodily
motion - happiness, sadness,
quickness, stateliness. and so
on. Trumpets and drums sug-
gest war, not only in the Missa
Solemnis, but universally. not
because there is anything in
herently bellicose about the
sound of them, but because the
instruments are actually and
symbolically associated with
war.
A tune called Jesus Loves
Me, This I Know" suggests
churches-those houses with
steeples-to my 3-year-old
daughter not, I assume, from
any attribute of the music,
but because she acquired the
conception at school.
20 Sacred Head Now
Wounded" 1.-THE Old Rugged
Cross" 1.-THE Rosary" and the
Dies Irae seem to be sacred
tunes, not because of any in
herent characteristics, but be-
tause they are so frequently
heard in church. The first Of
the four, as a matter of fact.
BY far the most popular Of the
better Protestant hymns, was
originally a secular song.
7 style Much the Same
I The sacred and secular music
Of all the great musicians that
I know is indistinguishable in
ttyle, except for very few
External earmarks. There is
10 stylistic difference between
the religious and secular Sec
hobs of Bach's "Clavierubung,"
between Byrd's motets and
tnadrigals, between Mozart's
masses and operas, between
.asso's anthems and songs, be-
tween Berlioz' Requiem and
sRomeo and Juliet"
4 An ad hominum argument
That is sometimes heard in ia
yor of the proposition that the
MiSsa Solemnis is not essen
TALLY a religious work is that
the composer himself was not
an orthodox believer. While it
is true that If the sun and
stars should doubt they'd i'm
mediately go out. the same
does not hold for the artist, as
history seems to show. It is
not necessary for the creator
to believe in what he says, the
one thing he must be able to
do Is to create.