SKU: CA.2302007

ISBN M-007-24884-0. German/English. Text: Franz Xaver Huber.

In his Passion oratorio Christus am Olberge [The Mount of Olives], Beethoven succeeded firstly in building on the 18th century tradition, and secondly in putting his own personal stamp on the nascent genre of German-language oratorio - the Vienna performances of Haydn's Die Schopfung and Die Jahreszeiten had only taken place a few years earlier. In composing the work he looked towards contemporary opera, using a text by an opera librettist to depict in music the dramatic situation of the doubting Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and his arrest. Yet we do not do justice to Beethoven's work if we simply regard it as a successor work to Graun's Der Tod Jesu or even Bach's St Matthew Passion. Beethoven's Christus am Olberge is characterized less by religious devotion and much more by the dramatic realization of a specific situation in the Passion story in deeply-felt musical scenes. With its magnificent, almost operatic music, this is a different Passion oratorio which is definitely worth hearing and experiencing - and in this form it is without doubt unique in the history of vocal-instrumental sacred music. The edition follows the first printed edition in music and text; differences in the text in the libretto originally set by Beethoven are given as a second text, and a singable English translation is underlaid. Score available separately - see item CA.2302000.

SKU: CA.4068813

ISBN 9790007220358. Language: Latin.

With its tonal language of subjective avowal, the first of Beethoven's two masses opens up new worlds of expression for the liturgical texts of the Mass which are expressly modern and point towards the future. Not to be considered a preliminary work to the Missa solemnis, it is an entirely independent work which set standards for the further development of settings of the Mass in the 19th century. Its newness, of which the composer himself was fully aware (I do not speak gladly of my Mass, or of myself, but I do believe that I have treated the text in a manner in which only few have treated it.), paves a way to an hitherto unknown, contemporary avenue to faith which today is still current. Carus presents this important work of church music history in a new critical edition by the Beethoven expert Ernst Herttrich. Score and part available separately - see item CA.4068800.

SKU: CA.2380192

Text language: German. Text: Schiller, Friedrich.

It's about 200 years since Beethoven scribbled down a theme in D minor in his sketch book, which he later used, slightly altered, in the 2nd movement of his 9th Symphony. Beethoven had thought of setting Schiller's Ode to Joy much earlier. As early as 1803 Ferdinand Ries mentioned a complete setting of the text by Beethoven which no longer survives. The vocal score of the finale of the 9th Symphony is based on the vocal score made by Carl Reinecke around the end of the 19th century. The version by Reinecke, popular worldwide, closely reflects the sound of the orchestral writing, yet at the same time is remains playable. Stefan Schuck has revised this historic vocal score, in the process taking into account recent research findings. The new Carus vocal score contains rehearsal letters from all current versions of the orchestral material, and is thus compatible with all available music editions. In the presentation of this edition, particular attention has been paid to the practical needs of (choral) singers and repetiteurs.

SKU: CA.4068819

ISBN 9790007097219. Language: Latin.

With its tonal language of subjective avowal, the first of Beethoven's two masses opens up new worlds of expression for the liturgical texts of the Mass which are expressly modern and point towards the future. Not to be considered a preliminary work to the Missa solemnis, it is an entirely independent work which set standards for the further development of settings of the Mass in the 19th century. Its newness, of which the composer himself was fully aware (I do not speak gladly of my Mass, or of myself, but I do believe that I have treated the text in a manner in which only few have treated it.), paves a way to an hitherto unknown, contemporary avenue to faith which today is still current. Carus presents this important work of church music history in a new critical edition by the Beethoven expert Ernst Herttrich. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.4068800.

SKU: CA.4068805

ISBN 9790007131012. Language: Latin.

With its tonal language of subjective avowal, the first of Beethoven's two masses opens up new worlds of expression for the liturgical texts of the Mass which are expressly modern and point towards the future. Not to be considered a preliminary work to the Missa solemnis, it is an entirely independent work which set standards for the further development of settings of the Mass in the 19th century. Its newness, of which the composer himself was fully aware (I do not speak gladly of my Mass, or of myself, but I do believe that I have treated the text in a manner in which only few have treated it.), paves a way to an hitherto unknown, contemporary avenue to faith which today is still current. Carus presents this important work of church music history in a new critical edition by the Beethoven expert Ernst Herttrich. Score available separately - see item CA.4068800.

SKU: CA.2380194

Text language: German. Text: Schiller, Friedrich.

It's about 200 years since Beethoven scribbled down a theme in D minor in his sketch book, which he later used, slightly altered, in the 2nd movement of his 9th Symphony. Beethoven had thought of setting Schiller's Ode to Joy much earlier. As early as 1803 Ferdinand Ries mentioned a complete setting of the text by Beethoven which no longer survives. The vocal score of the finale of the 9th Symphony is based on the vocal score made by Carl Reinecke around the end of the 19th century. The version by Reinecke, popular worldwide, closely reflects the sound of the orchestral writing, yet at the same time is remains playable. Stefan Schuck has revised this historic vocal score, in the process taking into account recent research findings. The new Carus vocal score contains rehearsal letters from all current versions of the orchestral material, and is thus compatible with all available music editions. In the presentation of this edition, particular attention has been paid to the practical needs of (choral) singers and repetiteurs.

SKU: CA.1039400

ISBN M-007-18767-5. Key: C minor. German/English. Text: Christoph Kuffner.

In a mixture of cantata and concert piece, Beethoven set a hymn to art in his Choral Fantasy. The work, about 20 minutes in length, is often seen as a precursor to the Ode to Joy in the 9th Symphony. After a piano introduction, a dialog between piano and orchestra develops in the space of just 400 measures, before the soloists and chorus enter for the last 200 measures. (If necessary, the solo parts can be sung by members of the chorus or a semi-chorus.) In the main section, headed Finale (beginning with the double basses and celli), the theme from Beethoven's early song Gegenliebe (WoO 118, also used in the Ode to Joy) is presented, varied and finally used in the March in F major. The main source of the Choral Fantasia for the edition is the first edition of the parts, published in 1811 and corrected by Beethoven; alongside this an English edition of the parts published by Clementi (1810) has been consulted for comparison. The edition contains an English singing version in a translation by Natalia Macfarren from the 19th century.