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The C Major Mass was commissioned by Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy (II) in 1807 to commemorate the name day of his wife, Marie von Liechtenstein. Beethoven’s motivation for writing it, then, was less related to his own religious feeling. Because of this, the style of this mass was similar to that of Haydn’s masses. In fact, this commission was an annual Esterhazy custom fulfilled on six prior occasions by Haydn. The Mass in C, therefore, is not highly creative and is written in a static form. Even some melodies have been more suggestive of Mozart or Gluck than Beethoven.
Nevertheless, Beethoven put enough of his own style into his C Major Mass that he occasionally deviated from conformity to strict conventions. After the first performance of the Mass, the Prince reportedly said, "My dear Beethoven, what have you written there!", evidently in a condescending tone. Beethoven immediately became irritated by this, and he left the Prince’s court on the same day of the performance. The score was then dedicated to Prince Ferdinand Kinsky instead.
With all of the similarities between Beethoven’s and Haydn’s masses, it is obvious that Beethoven’s C Major Mass was supposed to be in the traditional style of the mass. On the other hand, the Missa Solemnis was written as much for himself as for anyone else, so he integrated his soul into the heart of the Missa Solemnis, giving it a religious signficance far deeper than that of the C Major Mass.
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