Bach B-minor Mass
Period Performance with soloists from the choir​
When Bach assembled the B-minor Mass in his final years, he crystallized his lifelong mission to express faith through music into one staggering compendium of intellectual and spiritual exaltation. Thunderous fugues and brilliant choruses wrest maximal impact from the combined forces of choir and orchestra, while focused solos for voices and their instrumental companions rival any opera in terms of tenderness and dramatic presence. The Mass is not a singular object; it is a synthesis of Bach’s music going back 35 years, built upon techniques and trends developed over centuries. The B-minor Mass is a pillar of human achievement on par with Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling or Shakespeare’s collection of plays, and to witness it live is quite simply an essential life experience.