With its tonal language of personal avowal, the first of Beethoven's two masses opens up new worlds of expression for the liturgical texts of the Mass which are expressly modern and point towards the future. Not to be considered a preliminary work to the Missa solemnis, the Mass in C stands independently and set standards for the further development of settings of the Mass in the 19th century. Beethoven wrote "I do not speak gladly of my Mass, or of myself, but I do believe that I have treated the text in a manner in which only few have treated it." Carus presents this important work of church music history in a new critical edition by the Beethoven expert Ernst Herttrich.
