BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Thursday, May 16, 1822

If Beethoven’s letter of May 19th to Franz Brentano is to be believed (and there are many reasons to be skeptical, as we shall see), then Beethoven today retrieves the score of the Missa Solemnis from Archduke Rudolph’s library to try to get it into shape for copying and publication.

Professor Barry Cooper suggests that this retrieval of the manuscript actually occurs about a month earlier, sometime in April. In any event, Beethoven is now reworking the Dona nobis pacem section once again. This work will continue into June of 1822.