The sin of the world is
already being borne in anticipation. Suddenly we are in the midst of
celestial harmonies, delicate gradations and mergings of tones,
subtleties of expression, ethereal, evanescent, that come faintly at
first on the senses, giving us revelations of spiritual heights, of
transcendent states and conditions of the soul. Mankind is here afforded
a glimpse beyond the veil. These strains continue until the words _et
homo factus est_ (and was made man) are reached. At this point the
melodies are suddenly cut off, the doors are closed, and we are excluded
from further participation in things not meant for mortal ears. A change
of tonality and time further accentuates the changed conditions that
prevail as the story goes through the events of the crucifixion, death
and burial of Christ.[I]
[I] Beethoven's love of strongly defined contrasts is nowhere better
illustrated than here. The sharp discordant tones, which characterize
the opening bars of the movement, are simply pushed aside by the new. It
is the subjugation of the worldly by the spiritual, of suffering by
happiness.
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