Christus am Ölberge (in English, Christ on the Mount of Olives), Op. 85, is an oratorio by Ludwig van Beethoven portraying the emotional turmoil of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane prior to his crucifixion. It was begun in the fall of 1802, soon after his completion of the Heiligenstadt Testament, as indicated by evidence in the Wielhorsky sketchbook. The libretto in German is by the poet , editor of the Wiener Zeitung, with whom Beethoven worked closely. It was written in a very short period; in a letter to Breitkopf & Härtel written shortly after the oratorio's completion, Beethoven spoke of having written it in "a few weeks", although he later claimed that the piece required no more than 14 days to complete.Forbes, Elliot, ed. Thayer's Life of Beethoven. Princeton University Press, 1967, p. 328

It was first performed on April 5, 1803 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna;Forbes 1967, p. 328. in 1811, it was revised by Beethoven for publication by Breitkopf & Härtel.Forbes 1967, p. 521 The 10 years that passed between the composition of the work and its publication resulted in its being assigned a relatively high opus number. The piece premiered in the United States in 1809; it was Beethoven's first success in the United States.

Composition The work is a dramatic oratorio and is considered a much more humanistic portrayal of the Christ passionCalvin Stapert, "Images of Christ in Post-Enlightenment Oratorios", in The Oxford Handbook of Christology, Oxford, OUP, 2015, p. 465 than other settings, such as those by Bach. It concludes at the point of Jesus personally accepting his fate, placing the emphasis on his own decision rather than the later Crucifixion or Resurrection. The oratorio is scored for soprano, tenor, and bass soloists, with standard SATB chorus and symphony orchestra. The tenor sings as Jesus, with the soprano as a seraph (angel) and the bass as Peter. A complete performance lasts approximately 50 minutes.

Beethoven's only oratorio, he was quite critical of the piece and of the performance of the orchestra and chorus at its premiere. He panned Huber's libretto, saying, in an 1824 letter to the Gesellschaft für Musikfreunde, "Let us leave out of consideration the value of poems of this sort. We all know that allowances are to be made... so far as I am concerned, I would rather set Homer, Klopstock, Schiller to music. If they offer difficulties to overcome, these immortal poets at least are worthy of it."Forbes 1967, p. 885 (Beethoven eventually did set Schiller to music in his monumental Ninth Symphony, nearly twenty years after the oratorio.) The editors at Breitkopf & Härtel agreed with Beethoven's critical assessment of the text,Forbes 1967, p. 886 and Christian Schreiber was enlisted to make massive changes to the libretto. However, upon reviewing the changes, Beethoven still was not happy, saying, "I know that the text is extremely bad, but if even a bad text is conceived as a whole entity, it is very difficult to avoid disrupting it by individual corrections".

Structure The composition consists of six movements:

Instrumentation SATB choir 3 soloists (soprano, tenor and bass) 2 flutes 2 oboes 2 clarinets in B 2 bassoons 2 trumpets in D and E 2 horns in B, C, D and E 3 trombones (alto, tenor and bass) timpani 1st violins 2nd violins violas cellos double basses The soloists are personas: the soprano is a Seraph, the tenor is Jesus and the bass is the apostle Peter.

Reception The critical response to the work's initial performance was mixed; while the Zeitung für die Elegante Welt's critic wrote that the oratorio contained "a few admirable passages", a review in the Freymüthige Blätter called the piece "too artificial in structure and lacking expressiveness, especially in the vocal music", and claimed that the performance "was unable to achieve really marked approbation".Forbes 1967, p. 330 It has since drifted somewhat into obscurity, and today is seldom performed, being regarded by some as falling below Beethoven's usual standards of excellence. However, despite conflicting contemporary critical reports and Beethoven's own misgivings about the libretto, after its premiere in 1803 the work was performed four times in 1804 and repeated yearly around Easter, always drawing full houses, until 1825, when it was banned by the Hofmusikgraf.Fred Haight, Fidelio, Volume VII, No. 3 – Fall 1998. "Beethoven's Christ on the Mount of Olives – Gethsemane, as Schiller Would Treat It"

The "Welten singen..." finale has become quite popular on its own, being rendered as a "Hallelujah" chorus, frequently performed by church, high school, and college choirs.

Recordings YearSoloists(Jesus, Seraph, Peter)Conductor,Orchestra and ChorusLabel1957 Fritz Wunderlich,Erna Spoorenberg,Hermann Schey Henk Spruit,Radio Philharmonisch Orkest and Groot Omroepkoor BellaVoce1962 Jan Peerce,Maria Stader,Otto Wiener Hermann Scherchen,Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Vienna Academy Chorus Westminster1963 Reinhold Barthel,Liselotte Rebmann,August Messthaler Josef Bloser,Stuttgart Philharmonic and the South German Choral Society Vox/Turnabout1963 Richard Lewis,Judith Raskin,Herbert Beattie Eugene Ormandy,Philadelphia Orchestra and the Temple University Choirs Columbia Masterworksc.1965 Radko Delorco,Margit Opawsky,Walter Berry Henry Swoboda,Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Vienna Academy Chorus Concert Hall Society1970 Nicolai Gedda,Cristina Deutekom,Hans Sotin Volker Wangenheim,Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn, and choirs EMI1970 James King,Elizabeth Harwood,Franz Crass Bernhard KleeVienna Symphony and Wiener Singverein Deutsche Grammophon1970 ,Sylvia Geszty,Hermann Christian Polster Helmut KochBerliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Eterna1992 James Anderson,Monica Pick-Hieronimi,Victor van Halem Serge BaudoOrchestre National de Lyon, with chorus Harmonia Mundi1994 Michael Brodard,Maria Venuti,Keith Lewis Helmuth RillingBach-Collegium Stuttgart and Gächinger Kantorei Hänssler Classic2000 Steve Davislim,Simone Kermes,Eike Wilm Schulte Christoph SperingDas Neue Orchester and Chorus Musicus Köln Opus 1112004 Plácido Domingo,Ľuba Orgonášová,Andreas Schmidt Kent NaganoDeutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Rundfunkchor Berlin Harmonia Mundi2020 Pavol Breslik,Elsa Dreisig,David Soar Simon RattleLondon Symphony Orchestra and Chorus LSO Live

Notes

External links

German libretto of Christus am Ölberge