Mass in B Minor

A composition as brilliant as it is protean – the earliest sections date back to 1724, others were written in 1733 in the hope of obtaining a post in Dresden – the Mass in B minor occupied Bach until the end of his life. The work, which is more ecumenical than strictly Catholic, offers a digest of his art at its expressive peak: a world in itself. It is an understatement to say that the performers on this recording were eager to revisit it, following their acclaimed interpretations of the two Passions and the Christmas Oratorio.

Sometimes you come across a performance that may not be exactly to your taste, but is nonetheless so persuasive of its type that it disarms criticism. This is one. It's not quite a "one to a part" interpretation of the work, but with 10 choristers and eight strings, it is intimate, and that always risks minimizing the majesty that Bach built into the Sanctus, the eight-part Osanna, and the choruses with trumpets and drums.

The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists are renowned of their spectacular performances of Bach’s epic masterpiece, which they have toured extensively.

San Francisco-based early music ensemble Cantata Collective continues its major series of J S Bach's choral works with the Mass in B Minor, a towering testament of sacred music and the composer's crowning achievement of his final years. With celebrated conductor Nicholas McGegan, four of today's most distinguished early music vocal soloists and a refined chamber choir, this live recording exudes a spontaneity that reveals the depth and passion of Bach's glorious affirmation of faith.

Véritable électron libre inclassable, ce chef d’orchestre et champion de la musique de son temps a bousculé les habitudes et défrayé la chronique par ses prises de position politiques et musicales hors de la routine et des idées communes. Son rôle fut déterminant pour le développement et la propagation de la musique d’avant-garde dodécaphonique et électroacoustique. Né à Berlin en 1891, Hermann Scherchen est un autodidacte dont l’instinct musical est très développé. Très jeune, à 16 ans, il est altiste de l’orchestre Blüthner avant d’entrer au Philharmonique de Berlin jusqu’à sa rencontre avec Arnold Schönberg, auprès duquel il fait ses premières armes de chef d’orchestre lors des répétitions du Pierrot lunaire en 1912.

Scherchen was born in Berlin. Originally a violist, he played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens. He conducted in Riga from 1914 to 1916 and in Königsberg from 1928 to 1933, after which he left Germany in protest of the new Nazi regime and worked in Switzerland.

A visionary synthesis of the art of a composer who, here more than anywhere else, gives meaning to the world in which he lives, and reveals to us something of what lies beyond, the Mass in B minor is one of the supreme peaks of Bach’s music.

"For me Bach's B minor Mass is the greatest and the most unique music ever written", said Otto Klemperer. He first conducted the work in Berlin in 1932, using smaller forces than had become customary, applying objectivity and a deep respect for Bach's architecture. When he came to make this recording in 1967, he remained true to his principles, producing an interpretation of radiance, nobility and emotional intensity.

Among the 23 German documents included in UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” list, there are but two musical manuscripts: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B minor.

The Dunedin Consort's recording of Bach's "Mass in B Minor" revisits the spectacular individual virtuosity that made the Messiah recording so successful. This is the premiere recording of the work in the new Breitkopf edition, edited by Joshua Rifkin in 2006, a leading thinker in authentic period performance, who fully endorses John Butt's interpretation. This is undoubtedly his most spectacular choral work and the Dunedin Consort's soloist-led performance enables a level of clarity and expression that is not traditionally a feature of modern choral performance.