BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Friday, July 21, 1820

Beethoven sets out his plan for the concluding Credo fugue on Et vitam venturi saeculi for the Missa Solemnis in pocket sketchbook Artaria 180, pp 49-54, thoughtfully dating it precisely as “21 Jul[i]” for us. He has been sketching various ideas for the fugue in desk sketchbook Artaria 195 for quite some time already, but this seems to be the moment when it finally came together in his mind. Before long he will begin the autograph of the full Credo, which will be complete in about a month (though it will still be subject to significant revisions.)

Here Helmuth Rilling conducts that fugue, performed by the Stuttgart Bach Collegium and Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, one of the most demanding in the entire choral repertoire.