J.S.Bach. Mass in B minor

The Gewandhaus Orchestra and Chamber Choir under the direction of Herbert Blomstedt performed the Mass in B minor, one of the most large-scale works by the German composer, as part of the Leipzig Bach Festival.

The concert took place in the Church of St. Thomas, where Johann Sebastian Bach served as a cantor.

Bach created the Mass over many years. The work does not use the usual Protestant chorale; the text is based on the traditional Latin Ordinary. Almost all musicologists believe that the composer's intention was to perform the work in concert, not in a church setting. The genre of the mass historically developed as a five-part work, consisting of a plea for forgiveness (Kyrie), a hymn of praise and thanksgiving (Gloria), a dogmatic part - a symbol of faith (Credo), a liturgical culmination taken from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah (Sanctus), and a conclusion glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ (Agnus Dei). Bach's Mass is incredibly large-scale compared to traditional ones. It also contains five parts, but they, in turn, are divided into several separate numbers. There is no information about the performance of the Mass during his lifetime. In 1811, it entered the repertoire of the Singing Academy in Berlin thanks to the efforts of its then director Carl Friedrich Zelter. The first public performance of the Mass took place by the same academy under the direction of Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen only in 1835. PERFORMERS:

Gewandhaus Orchestra and Choir

Conductor - Herbert Blomstedt

Soloists:

Ruth Zisak

Anna Larsson

Christoph Gentz

Dietrich Henschel

St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, 2005