Chattanooga Bach Choir: Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis"

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Chattanooga Bach Choir

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis

The Chattanooga Bach Choir & Orchestra, David Long artistic director and conductor, continues their 40th Anniversary Season with a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s "Missa Solemnis," Op. 123, featuring violinist and Bach Choir concertmaster Mark Reneau as soloist. The concert takes place on Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m., at Covenant Presbyterian Church (8451 E. Brainerd Road) in Chattanooga. A suggested donation of $30 is requested. For more information, go to https://www.chattanoogabachchoir.org/cbc/2024-25-missa-solemnis/

Beethoven wrote about his "Missa Solemnis, “My aim in this composition for this huge mass is both to stir and constantly preserve the religious emotions of both the singers and the listeners.” For his performance, thought to be only the third in the history of Chattanooga and the first here in nearly 30 years, the Bach Choir expands its orchestra of musicians from the Chattanooga Symphony with guests from the Nashville, Knoxville, and Huntsville Symphonies. Renowned violinist Mark Reneau, long-time concertmaster with the Chattanooga Bach Choir, will be the featured violin soloist in the Benedictus, a performance that marks Mr. Reneau’s retirement and final concert with the Bach Choir. Featured vocal soloists for this performance are: Melissa Larkin Schultz, soprano; Roselle Ewing, mezzo-soprano; Gene Stenger, tenor; and Matthew Hoch, bass.

Artistic Director David Long comments, “Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (Solemn Mass) is one of the great masterpieces of western music. A deeply intimate as well as spiritual work, it is his longest and largest in terms of instrumental and vocal forces, creating a musical testimony that is a supreme expression of personal belief. To reinforce his intention, he inscribed the opening of the Kyrie with the words: ‘From the heart—may it go again to the heart!’ In the Missa Solemnis Beethoven treats the orchestral and vocal forces symphonically shaping a musical landscape that ranges from thunderously ecstatic to serenely meditative, especially in the exquisitely ethereal violin solo that highlights the ‘Benedictus,’ which in our performance will feature our retiring concertmaster, renowned violinist Mark Reneau. We look forward to bringing this magnificent work to Chattanooga audiences after such a long absence.”