Bach’s Mass in B Minor is undoubtedly his most spectacular choral work. Its combination of sizzling choruses and solo numbers covering the gamut of late-Baroque vocal expression render it one of the most joyous musical experiences in the western tradition. This album features this work performed by La Cetra Basel with Andrea Marcon, Musical & Artistic Direction.
Nevertheless, its identity is teased by countless contradictions: it appears to cover the entire Ordinary of the Catholic Liturgy, but in Bach’s Lutheran environment the complete Latin text was seldom sung as a whole; it seems to have the characteristics of a unified work, yet its origins are perhaps the most diverse for any of Bach’s large scale compositions; it was written in an age when composers generally prepared music for specific occasions, yet we have no firm evidence that the whole work was designed with a performance in mind.
Somehow, a mystique grew around the Mass soon after Bach’s death, and C.P.E. Bach performed the Credo section during the 1780s; but it was nearly a century before it was available in print. The first performances in the early decades of the nineteenth century were presented by institutions of which Bach could hardly have conceived – amateur choral societies with a vast number of performers. And, over the last century it has often been at the center of major disputes in the field of Bach scholarship: the question of its original function, its chronology, the legitimacy of the various manuscripts and, of course, its performance practice. Even the title ‘Mass in B Minor’ was not applied until the nineteenth century.
Bach’s autograph contains four discrete sections: the Kyrie and Gloria are together entitled Missa, these movements being the regular part of the sung Lutheran mass of Bach’s time; the second section is called Symbolum Nicenum – the Nicene Creed. Then follows the Sanctus – again an independent manuscript (a slightly modified version of a pre-existing setting); the fourth section contains the remaining texts of the Mass, ‘Benedictus’ to ‘Dona nobis pacem’. The fact that Bach gave each of these sections.
Miriam Feuersinger, Soprano I
Hana Blažiková, Soprano II
Carlos Mena, Countertenor
Jakob Pilgram, Tenor
Tobias Berndt, Bass
La Cetra Basel
Andrea Marcon, Musical & Artistic Direction
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 00:54:36
Additional information
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SKU | A5672_1 |
Qualities | DSD 512 fs, DSD 256 fs, DSD 128 fs, DSD 64 fs, DXD 24 Bit, WAV 96 kHz, FLAC 192 kHz |
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Release Date | November 21, 2024 |
Bach: Mass in B Minor (Album 1)
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SKU | A5671 |
Qualities | DSD 512 fs, DSD 256 fs, DSD 128 fs, DSD 64 fs, DXD 24 Bit, WAV 96 kHz, FLAC 192 kHz |
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Release Date | November 21, 2024 |
Bach: Mass in B Minor (Album 2)
Label | |
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SKU | A5672 |
Qualities | DSD 512 fs, DSD 256 fs, DSD 128 fs, DSD 64 fs, DXD 24 Bit, WAV 96 kHz, FLAC 192 kHz |
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Artists | |
Composers | |
Genres | |
Conductors | |
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Original Recording Format | |
Release Date | November 21, 2024 |
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