The overall effect evokes an idealized performance that Bach himself might have recognized but without any self-conscious attempt to invoke period mannerisms. In this short guide John Butt considers the work from many angles offering the reader basic information in a concise and accessible form. An immediate question is of Bach's intentions – as one who constantly chafed against the restricted resources he was provided, would he have approved the added power and impact of augmented modern instruments, orchestras and choruses, or did he conceive the work knowing that any performance would reflect the limitations of his time? As an example, Harnoncourt notes that dynamic markings signaled shifts in the texture and numbers of performers, such as between a choral quartet and a full choir, rather than actual volume as such notation is now understood. Indeed, Butt finds symbolism in the seven movements that comprise the overall arch structure of the entire Credo section. As with most music of this vintage, the recordings of the Mass in b minor invoke the fundamental issues of appropriate performing forces and interpretive approaches and trace the evolution of attempts to follow "authentic" performance practices. The Boyd Neel Orchestra, founded by its namesake surgeon in 1933 as one of the earliest permanent chamber groups, provides eloquent, light textures (with imposing tympani) that must have seemed refreshingly pure at the time. Yet this does not mean that Bach could never have heard his … All the more amazing, then, is that overall the Mass is as “dramatic in its effect as it is monumental, contributing to the impression of a work which seems to contain twice the amount of music that its duration would normally allow.”(8) This culmination of the 15-year effort of a man with deep religious and aesthetic convictions also … Buy download online. Further evidence of Bach's subjective approach lies in his use of musical symbolism to underline the text, ranging from the standard and conspicuous (chromaticism to underline lamentation; falling seconds to suggest sighing; a descending arpeggio to accompany the text of "descendit de coelis" ("came down from heaven") in the Et in unum movement) to far more subtle (a canon, also in the Et in unum Dominum, to signify the mystic unity of Father and Son), and even to the speculative yet fascinating (Albert Schweitzer's attributing the six vocal parts of the Sanctus to evoke six-winged seraphim). While the sincerity and commitment of the leaders of earlier versions cannot be discounted, Richter had extraordinary credentials as a Bach specialist – son of a minister, organist at the same Thomaskirche in Leipzig where Bach himself had presided during his final 27 years (including the period of composing the Mass) and where he is buried, and founder of the famed Munich Bach Choir, heard here in all its radiant splendor. George Stauffer points out that, by whatever name, the B Minor Mass is not mentioned in any of Bach's letters nor in any other contemporaneous documents, and so our only direct evidence of its creation must lie in the autograph itself. Video on demand: Bach's Mass in B minor with the Ensemble Pygmalion Watch online on www.francemusique.fr Cité de la musique - La Philharmonie Recorded at Philharmonie 1: Grande salle Pierre Boulez, Paris, France In June 1960 Shaw rerecorded the B Minor Mass, having thoroughly rehearsed the work through a six-week tour of one-night stands (36 concerts in 36 cities), this time with his famed Robert Shaw Chorale, which he had founded in 1948, rather than a specially-assembled studio group. Completed in 1748, with individual parts composed and performed earlier. A wonderful question which, I’d argue, admits of no single answer. The B Minor Mass included Harnoncourt's own lengthy, scholarly notes in which he both explained and defended his approach. Hermann Scherchen; Emmy Loose, Hilde Ceska, Gertrud Burgstahler-Schuster, Anton Dermota, Alfred Poell; Vienna Akademie Kammerchor, Vienna Symphony Orchestra (1950, Westminster LP set; 125'). You'd never know from listening; there's remarkable consistency to the … They had already released revelatory original instrument versions of the Bach Brandenburg Concertos, Orchestral Suites and Violin Concertos (the last with a reduced "orchestra" of seven strings and harpsichord continuo) and would soon launch their most ambitious venture (shared with the King's College Choir and like-minded Leonhardt Consort), a project of staggering scope and historical importance – recording all 200+ Bach cantatas (and including the complete scores in each album). Nikolaus Harnoncourt contends that the Credo had been written for the rededication of St. Thomas School on June 5, 1732 and that the entire Missa was performed at an April 21, 1733 oath of fealty for the new Elector. òcalled: Mass in B minor ó was actually composed in different stages over several decades. Xinh's project for Mu123, spring/1996 [Bach home page] What follows is the full text for Bach's B-Minor Mass. Needless to say, it's unique anyway, --Gerda Arendt 12:52, 17 April 2013 (UTC) B-Minor Mass. (1724 to 1749), J.S. BACH (1685-1750) Mass in B Minor, BWV 232. The primary snags are rather blurry sound for the era and some painful horn playing to launch the "Quoniam. While he believes that the Missa portion intended one instrument per string part (evidenced by separate (and slightly dissimilar) copies for two first violins and only a single copy for the other parts), he notes that Bach had four violinists in Leipzig and thus doubles both violin parts throughout. Ecstatically greeting it in the December 1929 Gramophone magazine, C. M. Crabtree agreed: "For many people the recording of Bach's B minor Mass complete will be the greatest thing that has happened since the first gramophone record was made. Among the ones I have enjoyed through the years are: I am indebted to the following writers for the information and attributed opinions in this article: Spitta, Philipp (tr: Clare Bell and J. Indeed scholars often marvel at the range of material Bach incorporated into the Mass. Generally steadfast, Enescu relaxes the tempos at the end of each major section and adds a unique personal touch by softening and trailing off the massive final chord. There are some excellent examples in the B minor Mass so I thought I’d give you a chance to hear one of them ... whilst at the same time giving you a snippet of the new recording. DG Archiv: 4839784. (Aside from a few Bach and Handel snippets (mostly in Romanticized arrangements) and a vertiginous Mozart Jupiter, he recorded nothing else written prior to Beethoven.) bruggen's interpretation of bach's b minor mass powerful and gripping! Bach's (1685 - 1750) `Mass in B Minor' is nearly 2 hours of what few would disagree is one of civilizations greatest masterpieces. Although often cited as quirky or worse (a 1955 British Record Guide slams it as "a woeful disappointment," "capriciously conceived" and "simply unmusical"), Scherchen's highly individual account is a remarkably fresh approach that eschews ostentation and constantly resonates with sincere artistry that compels appreciation for the magnitude of Bach's achievement. However the Bach Archive Leipzig in conjunction with Bärenreiter are constantly striving to bring new discoveries of editorial research to the fore. Whether out of tribute to the lasting quality of the Coates set or fear of commercial risk, no further recording of the B Minor Mass appeared for nearly two more decades. Gratia et Gloria Dei December 21, 2013 By George Thompson (Gonzales, LA) See All My Reviews " From the album cover we understand that Bach's Mass in B Minor belongs in the cathedral and not the concert hall. Malcolm Boyd goes even further, crediting Bach's B Minor Mass as probably the first setting of the Ordinary conceived without regard to liturgical use, and thus raising fundamental questions about the possibility of religious practice apart from formal ritual or established institutions. The first integral performance only arose in 1859 in Leipzig by a chorus of over 100, adapted to the taste of the time, complete with dramatic dynamics and legato slurs. To that end, Christoph Wolff credits Bach as having a breadth that embraces a comprehensive grasp of musical history, ranging from ancient to new styles. I. MISSA Kyrie Kyrie eleison (5-part chorus) Kyrie eleison. Harnoncourt, Nikolaus – notes to his Telefunken box, SKH 20/1–3 (1968). The b minor mass is truly one of the cultural pillars of Western civilization. Rifkin, Joshua – notes to his Nonesuch gatefold album, 9 79036 (1982). 18. As Butt points out, Martin Luther never set out to replace the Latin mass but rather to alter and adapt it where needed for understanding. So what was Bach's purpose in creating the B Minor Mass? Yet, Geiringer insists that the adaptations were not mechanically copied, but rather enriched the originals, to which Dadelsen adds that the adaptations saved no time, as they took longer to write than wholly new compositions (at least for a genius like Bach from whose pen music flowed readily). There is, indeed, no greater undertaking … ." Bach, J S: Mass in B minor, BWV232. Thus, the opening Kyrie evolves patiently, inexorably and reverently, while the Christe duet, despite a lovely initial blending of the two female voices, devolves into a duel for attention, complete with mammoth retards to mark the end of each section. The first two of its five major sections (the Kyrie and Gloria, known as the Missa) were dedicated in 1733 to the Elector of Saxony in Dresden in the apparent hope of obtaining either a court title or at least some commissions. While the slow sections are just as evocative (and, of course, better recorded), the faster portions are brought back to earth with more conventional tempos and lack the startling sense of heady flight and the musicians' sheer exuberance and tangible enthusiasm that animate the mono version. Even if it had no other merit, the sheer daring of this bold British venture would assure it an honored place in the history of the phonograph – a full recording of a two-hour, barely-known work of highly select appeal. Scholars agree that at most one or two sections were freshly composed, with all the rest adapted from earlier cantata movements. Mass In B Minor BWV 232, Missa: Gratias Agimus Tibi (Chorus) 2:31. It begins and ends with paired choruses (the first movement in a sober antique style and the last in a festive modern style, both representing aspects of the Father), surrounding tender arias (movements 2 and 6) presenting the other members of the Trinity, and surmounted by central choruses (movements 3 and 5) depicting Christ's time on earth, with the Crucifixus (movement 4) at the very center, so as to represent the cornerstone of Christian faith. The complete B Minor Mass was first heard in Leipzig, Germany, in 1859. Join us to listen to this special presentation of the Mass in b minor in its entirety. Thus, the opening Kyrie runs a full 15 ½ minutes (compared to a "standard" 11 or so), followed by a fleet 5-minute Christe (versus 6) and then a slow second Kyrie (4:45 versus 4). I would go further and consider the Mass to be "Bach's Greatest Hits" (at least among his vocal compositions), as every movement boasts exceptional melodies that rank among Bach's most memorable, arrayed amid a wide variety of textures and settings, and thus provides a convenient condensation of his art into a single composition, without the recitatives and narrative filler that pad out his cantatas and even the work that is often cited as his crowning achievement – the even more massive St. Matthew Passion. George Enescu; Suzanne Danco, Kathleen Ferrier, Peter Pears, Bruce Boyce, Norman Walker; BBC Chorus; Boyd Neel Orchestra (1951, BBC Legends CDs; 133'), Recorded in a single day (July 19, 1951), presumably from a broadcast (no audience is evident), this performance was issued only in 1998 on the BBC Legends CD series to great acclaim, especially for Enescu and Ferrier, both at the close of their careers (his full and rich, hers cruelly truncated). Buy download online. Although the overall timing is nearly identical to Coates's, individual movement tempos tend toward extremes. He posited that Bach intended this compilation to be an anthology of sacred music rather than a òmissa tota ó – a unitary whole. Towards the end of his life, mainly in 1748 and 1749, he finished composing new sections and compiling it into a complex, unified structure. The genesis and purpose of nearly all of Bach's prodigious output of vocal works is either known or can be reliably surmised – except for his very last and arguably greatest of all, which would come to be known as the Mass in B Minor (although, as Karl Geiringer observes, the title is a misnomer, as twice as many sections are in B Major than in b minor). He never did enough practice to get really good at it, but caught a passion for Classical music which would stick with him forever. While the sonics are quite good for its age, details of the instrumental and choral ensembles (especially the strings) are often blurred and some of the ensemble is casual. Shaw, Robert and Jules Herford – notes to the Shaw mono RCA box, LM 6100 (1947). Leipzig Bachfest will stream the possibly largest version of all times of Bach’s Mass in B minor on 22 November. 17. Even beyond these markings, he infers that Bach may have used soloists in the movements having no obbligato instrumental accompaniment. Whereas Handel was well-known for his 'borrowings' (where he essentially stole things off other composers), Bach frequently used the so-called 'parody technique' (where he would recycle earlier compositions of his own using new texts). Kyrie Gloria. He began by asserting that traditions of interpretation are valid only for works performed in unbroken sequence since their composition, whereas for Bach, whose works lay unperformed for a century and thus were removed from the composer's intentions, our notions of authenticity (and thus our accustomed listening experiences) reflect the prevalent style of when they were discovered rather than when they had been composed. While I consider the above recordings of the Mass in B Minor to have the greatest claim to historical significance, there are dozens of others, many of which have been widely acclaimed. B minor Mass. Five-part choral writing is most in evidence, the… Not surprisingly, given Richter's acclaimed organ recordings, the tonal color is often enriched with prominent bass from the organ. ", While there may have been earlier acoustical records of isolated, and possibly abridged, arias or choruses, the first substantial set of excerpts was the eight sides cut in 1926 for HMV by the Royal Choral Society and Royal Albert Hall Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Edward Cuthbert Bairstow, a distinguished minister, organist and professor. On this edition of Baroque&Before, Ivor Bolton leads Balthasar Neumann Chorus and B’Rock Orchestra in Bach’s masterwork. Indeed, Bach's own ideal, and therefore his expectations, can be gleaned from a 1730 letter he had written to the Leipzig Town Council in which he proposed a "Short But Most Necessary Draft for a Well-Appointed Church Music," comprising 4-6 violins, 4 violas, 2 celli, one bass, 2-3 oboes, 2 flutes, 1-2 bassoons, 3 trumpets, one kettledrum and a chorus of 3-4 each of sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. (x3) Christe eleison (Duet, soprano I,II) Christe eleison. Unlike the two surviving Bach Passions (John and Matthew), Bach’s great Mass wasn’t originally conceived as a single entity. ", Karl Richter; Maria Stader, Hertha Töpper, Ernst Haefliger, Kieth Engen, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau; Münchener Bach-Chor, Münchener Bach-Orchester (1961, DG Arkiv LP and CD sets: 122'). Moreover, all the cantata sources for the Mass movements were for solo voices. It comes from Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan on the BIS label. Indeed, heard today (on an Amphion CD), the performance is strikingly modern – spirited with strong dynamics and careful balances. America had to await the 20th century - the first US performance was in 1900 by the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. To simply note this to be the first recording of the Mass with original instruments would vastly understate both the magnitude of its approach and its profound influence on all that would follow. Rifkin's other choices include opting for boy sopranos and a male falsetto for the alto, following the practice of the Leipzig churches at the time (although he concedes that the electoral chapel may have used women). The Mass in B Minor is arguably Bach's greatest single work. Most commentators hold Bach's parody approach in high regard. Emery, Walter – notes to the Klemperer Angel box, SC-3720 (1967). The New Bach Edition (NBA) volume of J. S. Bach’s Mass in B minor BWV 232 has been the definitive edition for generations of singers and musicians. At the other, Butt traces the influence of dance in the regularity, recurrence, symmetry, periodic phrasing and metric organization that permeates several sections. Robert Shaw sidesteps the issue, stating that no matter when the fragments may have been composed, they comprise a textual and musical unity reflecting Bach's unwavering religious conviction and his staggering musical craftsmanship. Georg von Dadelsen contends that it had been written during the five-month official period of mourning for August the Strong, the prior Elector, during which all musical performances had been banned, thus affording Bach a respite from his official duties. In any event, Butt notes with considerable irony that the B Minor Mass, which brims with Bach's deepest spiritual convictions, began to attain popularity only after religious works became fashionable in secular concert settings. Browse: Bach, J S - Mass in B minor, BWV232 This page lists all recordings of Mass in B minor, BWV232 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). In any event, Bach's efforts eventually were successful, as he ultimately was bestowed the title of Church Composer, but only after reminding the Elector three years later. The liturgical problems and the doubts surrounding its origins have led many scholars to question whether the B Minor Mass was ever intended for performance. Whether it is a complete patchwork or put together from pieces of a design (most musicologists suggest the latter), this music is- certainly metaphorically and possibly literally- divine! Of his beloved Bach, he left us empathetic accompaniments to Menuhin's 1930s recordings of the Violin Concertos, probing renditions of the violin Sonatas and Partitas, and this deeply spiritual Mass in B Minor. As evidence of this method, Rifkin notes that the autograph contains fewer corrections and displays the more handsome calligraphy of Bach's "copying hand" than the scores he composed from scratch. The Missa portion appeared in 1833, and the rest in 1845, followed by an "official" edition in 1856 by the newly-formed Bach Gesellschaft. 19. The result of all this, even to those willing to credit Rifkin's reasoning, can be disconcerting to ears attuned to either the "big band" or Harnoncourt approaches, gaining in overall intimacy yet foregoing the accustomed contrast between massed and solo sections for a uniformly light texture, abetted by consistently mellow playing. Basing his performances on a newly-edited 1954 edition, he asserted in accompanying notes that “Bach was used to an equal numerical and auditory balance between singers and instrumentalists,” and thus scaled the size of the chorus “where a choral sound might obscure an instrumental detail” and assigned soloists in lieu of the chorus to sections of choral movements in which instruments do not double the voices. The term B-Minor Mass is mentioned without introduction (so far had been "Mass in B minor"), and without italics. In a sense, this was a matter of political expediency, as the Saxon court had become Catholic only in 1697 and many of its officials were Lutheran. Browse: Bach, J S - Mass in B minor, BWV232, Download This page lists all recordings of Mass in B minor, BWV232 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Indeed all the soloists are splendid. Performing the complete mass since 1940, The Bach Festival Society recognizes its place as inheritors of this tradition of bringing Bach’s work to life. Cost: $25+ Duration: About 2 … Butt asserts that it was fully appropriate for Bach to pour into his Mass an exhaustive summation of his vast musical skills and of all the styles, idioms and devices available in his age. 1900 by the Bach Archive Leipzig in conjunction with Bärenreiter are constantly striving to bring new of! 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