BACH - MASS IN B MINOR
Programme
Distribution
- VERBIER FESTIVAL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
- Leonardo García-Alarcón conductor
- Ying Fang soprano
- Mariana Flores soprano
- Alice Coote mezzo soprano
- Bernard Richter tenor
- Benjamin Appl baritone
- Choeur de Chambre de Namur choir
While today it is easy to listen to one’s favourite works again and again, this was not the case during Bach’s lifetime. In those days, composers resorted to parody, a musical genre far removed from the meaning of the term today, which consisted of reusing in a new composition a melody that had already been used in another work and was therefore familiar to the public. By adding a universally known text, such as the Agnus Dei, it was easier to get the audience to sing along and rally around the new work. In the musical material of the Hosanna and the Crucifixus, we find elements of various cantatas previously written by Bach. The composer’s intention is also reflected in a certain ecumenism. For while the form of the work is definitely Catholic, its letter is Lutheran, as evidenced by the use of certain typically Protestant terms, such as ‘altissime’ in the Gloria. This can no doubt be explained by the fact that the work was conceived for the city of Dresden, which was home to both religions. In any case, this is one of the works that best conveys Leonardo García-Alarcón’s message: a universalist message, convinced of the profound transformative power of music on souls and beings.