On the program:
Selections from Mass in B minor, BWV 232 (translation) - Arleen Auger, soprano I; Ann Murray, soprano II; Marjana Lipovsek, contralto; Leipzig Radio Choir; Staatskapelle Dresden, Peter Schreier, conductor
TRANSCRIPT:
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Brian McCreath J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor is a setting of a liturgical text, but with proportions that are in no way practical for a liturgy. Bach wrote the piece as a demonstration of both his steadfast faith and his unparalleled skill. It begins with a plea for mercy - the Kyrie eleison - and continues through every dimension of a believer’s faith, from exuberant joy …
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Brian McCreath … to an excruciating spiritual pain …
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Brian McCreath … and in the end, a prayer for peace …
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Brian McCreath With Ryan Turner of Emmanuel Music, the story of the Mass in B minor is coming up on The Bach Hour.
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Brian McCreath Hello, I’m Brian McCreath. Welcome to The Bach Hour from WCRB, Classical Radio Boston, a part of GBH Music. Over the course of his 65 years, Bach composed thousands of works, but two stand out at the pinnacle of his catalog. According to Harvard University’s Christoph Wolff,
The nearly infinite possibilities for developing an artful piece out of a single succinct musical idea fascinated Bach the composer and performer for a lifetime. And the two works that preoccupied him during the final years of his life, the Art of Fugue and the B minor Mass, bear eloquent testimony to this truly passionate devotion. Together they mark the end point of Bach’s musical oeuvre, though neither work was initiated with any such prospective outcome in mind.
Again, those are the words of Christoph Wolff.
So, one piece that’s a deep but abstract, in some ways mathematical, immersion in counterpoint, or the ways individual musical lines interact to create harmony and, in the end, drama. And another that applies counterpoint to the emotionally rich terrain of religious belief and its expression through vocal arts. For this program, it's the second of these culminating works we’ll explore with the guidance of Ryan Turner, Artistic Director of Boston’s Emmanuel Music.
You can hear The Bach Hour each week at this time, and for our broadcast schedule, got to Classical dot org slash Bach. That’s where you can also hear this program on demand for a limited time and access more resources for your own Bach explorations. Again, that’s all at Classical dot org slash Bach.
In this program, you’ll hear selections from the Mass in B minor as recorded by the Leipzig Radio Choir and Staatskappele Dresden, conducted by Peter Schreier. The origin story of the Mass in B minor isn’t simple, as though Bach decided one day to sit down and write a mass. As Ryan Turner told me, it’s a story that reflects some of the cultural norms of Bach’s day as well as his own restlessness as the director of music for the churches of his adopted hometown of Leipzig, Germany.
Ryan Turner So 1733, the King of Prussia has died, and all of Saxony has gone into six months of mourning and there's supposed to be no music. At the same time, Bach is in this feeling of, I feel stuck here in Leipzig. So he wants to be elevated to the role of court composer in Dresden, which is of course not an actual position, it's just a title. And he puts together what is the Kyrie and the Gloria as his job application. And in that, the thing that he has done is he is speaking to the musical zeitgeist of Dresden at the time. Opera is a big thing there. He's using operatic conventions in the love duet, and he takes this idea of The Song of Songs, the romantic relationship between Christ and the believer. Look at the Christe eleison. It's essentially a love duet.
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Brian McCreath Here again is Ryan Turner.
Ryan Turner And then we go on to the second Kyrie, where again he's flexing his compositional muscles, and he basically gives us a Palestrina motet. Even just in the Kyrie, the fugue, an opera love duet, and a Renaissance motet, all in the first movement, I find to be one of the mind boggling things about the piece.
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Brian McCreath The second Kyrie eleison, and before that, the Christe eleison of Bach’s Mass in B minor. Peter Schreier led Staatskapelle Dresden and the Leipzig Radio Choir, with sopranos Arleen Auger and Ann Murray.
I’m Brian McCreath, and you’re listening to The Bach Hour.
The next part of the Mass in B minor takes us in a completely new direction for the Gloria section of the mass, which begins with a text that translates as “Glory to God in the highest.” And according to Ryan Turner of Emmanuel Music, the change in character isn’t only because of a text that glorifies the divine.
Ryan Turner There's a very practical reason. In the B minor mass, half of the movements have trumpets in them. So, they have to be in D because trumpets at that time played in D major. The change is we're going from B minor to D major because we have trumpets in the Gloria. And so there is a sort of brilliance and a celebratory nature. And of course the text begs for it as well. It really is a celebration. And of course it’s in three, which is the three of the Trinity. And there's that sort of lilting to it. And in the Gloria more than any other of the movements, he uses dance forms as well. So, this almost feels like a Baroque suite.
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Brian McCreath Ending with a text that translates as “We give you thanks for your great glory,” you’ve just heard part of the Gloria section of Bach’s Mass in B minor, in a recording by Staatskapelle Dresden and the Leipzig Radio Choir, led by Peter Schreier and featuring, in that part, soprano Ann Murray.
I’m Brian McCreath.
On the program this week, it’s a guided tour of Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Artistic Director of Boston’s Emmanuel Music, Ryan Turn.
You can hear The Bach Hour each week at this time, and for our broadcast schedule, got to Classical dot org slash Bach. That’s where you can also hear this program on demand for a limited time and access more resources for your own Bach explorations. Again, that’s all at Classical dot org slash Bach.
After the joyful, celebratory music of the Gloria, the next section of the Mass in B minor is the Credo. And according to Ryan Turner, Bach amplified its meaning to a believer by evoking a connection to his faith’s ancient past.
Ryan Turner The Credo, for any Christian, is the central tenet of the theology, right? “What I believe,” and it goes through the statement of faith, the statement of belief. And Bach sets it using, over long tones, the Gregorian chant. [sings] But we hear it drawn out over many measures and long notes. In the midst of it, there's this walking bass line that really in a way has nothing to do with what's happening above it. It's almost two different things happening. But it's marching along, and it's this sort of, time is marching on as we have this statement of faith.
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Brian McCreath Soprano Arleen Auger and contralto Marjana Lipovsek were the soloists in this third part of the Credo section of Bach’s Mass in B minor, a section that continues with movements that take us into the architectural - and spiritual - center of the Mass. And according to Ryan Turner, Bach’s music represents both of those aspects of the piece, as well as the composer’s own lifelong devotion to his craft and to his faith.
Ryan Turner The whole Credo, as a big movement: two choruses, a duet, three choruses, an aria, ends with two choruses. Perfectly symmetrical work. In the middle of it is the earliest piece that Bach wrote that included in the Mass, the Crucifixus, which is the central piece of the belief, this piece he wrote in 1714, and on both ends of it are completely newly composed works. And I have to believe that's intentional.
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Brian McCreath This central part of Bach’s Mass in B minor encompasses the three core beliefs of the composer’s faith: Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, and three days later, he rose again, all of it expressed through vivid musical settings.
As the Mass enters its final parts - the rest of the Credo and the praise of the Sanctus and Osanna, the last two movements are Agnus Dei and Dona nobis pacem. And as Ryan Turner of Emmanuel Music says, Bach captures the essence of both belief and emotion in this culmination of the Mass.
Ryan Turner There's this dialog between the unison strings and the voice, like this cry of desperation. “Lamb of God have mercy on us.” And it's all within the text of the Miserere Nobis.
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Ryan Turner And if that wasn't enough, what happens right after that is the Dona nobis pacem. Sonically speaking, you're enveloped by this mantra of these three words. And at the same time, you can't help but think, I've heard this before. And what was it? It was about giving gratitude. And here we are being thankful for peace or the hope of peace.
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Brian McCreath The final part of Bach’s Mass in B minor is a prayer for peace - Dona nobis pacem. You heard the Leipzig Radio Choir and Staatskapelle Dresden, and, in the Agnus Dei before that, contralto Marjana Lipovsek.
Remember, you’ll find more of The Bach Hour online at Classical dot org.
Thank you for joining me today, and thanks also to Ryan Turner for his comments and to audio engineer Antonio Oliart Ros. I’m Brian McCreath, and I’ll hope to have your company again next week here on The Bach Hour.