Beethoven's use of specific sonorities in the Missa Solemnis (Credo and Benedictus) and in the Ninth Symphony (Finale). Most significant is an Eb Major sonority first heard at the start of the Credo. This sonority takes on a symbolic meaning in both the Credo and Benedictus since it is associated with texts which evoke celestial regions. This symbolic association holds in the Ninth as well. The musical ideas involved are also evident in the String Quartet in Eb Major, Op. 127, which is the final work in which these ideas are treated. These referential sonorities, then, bind together three of Beethoven's late works.

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: David C. Birchler