Stephanie Scherrer wrote:

>Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any information about the first
>perfomance of the entire Missa Solemnis.  I have succeeded to only
>find the first performance of the Kyrie, Credo, and Agnus Dei in 1827.

I should note that this is the same concert which also premiered the Ninth
Symphony.

>I also found some information of Schindler's claim of the first entire
>performance, but the author of the book did not take it seriously, so
>I assume that this account may be false.

Well, Schindler does have his problems.

The first complete performance of the Missa Solemnis (in a concert
setting, not in the context of a Mass) took place on April 6, 1824, in St.
Petersburg.  The concert was arranged, though I don't think conducted, by
Prince Galitzin, the same fellow whose commission of some string quartets
inspired Beethoven to produce the last five great works (plus Grosse Fuge)
of that genre.  According the Galitzin, the concert was a success.  The
first Viennese or Austrian performance took place in 1830, but I don't
have the details in front of me.  A good Beethoven biography -- preferably
Alexander Thayer's -- would give you more information on the St.
Petersburg and Viennese performances.  You may also want to consult the
relevant letters in Emily Anderson's, Donald MacArdle's, and Theodore
Albrecht's collections.

To allude to a parenthetical thought above, the Missa has also been used in
a High Mass on occasion; one reviewer mentioned being overwhelmed by the
experience.  If a "first time" was recorded for this endeavor, I do not
know, but Roger Fiske's book on this work may be of some assistance here.

Mark K. Ehlert