Beethoven Mass in C Major, op. 86

Saturday, March 2, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 3:00 pm

Patricia Reser Center for the Arts
12625 SW Crescent St, Beaverton, OR 97005

Adult/Senior – $26 in advance / $34 day-of and at the door
Student – $5 in advance (email The Reser Box Office or call 971.501.7722) and at the door

To kick off the new year, we present Beethoven’s colossal Mass in C Major, with Sunnyside Symphony Orchestra. While often overshadowed by his subsequent Missa Solemnis, this long-underrated masterpiece is the first of Beethoven’s two masses, contains some of the composer’s most sublime music for voices, and set the standard for Mass settings in the 19th century. It was written while Beethoven was composing another work in C: his Fifth Symphony, and the result is a Mass that combines the grace of Haydn and Mozart with the muscular strength and festive tone that distinguishes Beethoven’s symphonic writing of the time. The work’s grandeur, power, and spiritual depth make it an enduring masterpiece, one of Beethoven’s greatest works for chorus and orchestra, and one of the most significant works in the entire choral repertoire – one that continues to inspire and move audiences.

To make these concerts an even bigger feast for the ears, the Sunnyside Symphony Orchestra will also present Rimsky-Korsakov’s bold and triumphant Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the Choral Arts Ensemble will present sublime versions of “Ave Maria” by Franz Biebl and Efrem Podgaits, as well as the joyous “Plaudite, Psallite” by Kestutis Daugirdas. We are excited to return to The Reser to share all of this incredible music with you!