opis
In the beginning was the St. Matthew Passion: every year since 1922 it has been heard again in the Grote Kerk in Naarden, North Holland, and the Dutch Bach Society owes its birth to this tradition. In the meantime, the performances have become national events, attracting more than 12,000 visitors every year • However, the simple cultivation of tradition is not their thing - with performances according to the latest musicological findings, the Dutch Bach Society proves at the age of 86 that only change can endure. The Netherlands, a self-confident centuries-old cultural nation, has been at the forefront of the early music movement for more than thirty years with a keen sense of the latest developments. For the Dutch Bach Society, performances of the works of its patron with a large choir and orchestra have long been a part of history. Since 1983 the ensemble has been led by Jos van Veldhoven, who counts Gustav Leonhardt, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Ton Koopman and Andrew Parrott among its role models and is committed to historical music-making practice. Numerous concerts in the Netherlands, other European countries, the USA and Japan have meanwhile carried the fame of the Dutch Bach Society out into the world • Like the earlier recording of the St. John Passion, this recording of the Mass in B minor follows the current state of music research and uses a small instrumentation: in addition to the soloists, who also sing along with the choirs, there are also two singers per voice as choir singers (so-called "ripienists"). The instrumental ensemble is accordingly sparse • As with the St. John Passion, this luxury edition of the Mass in B Minor also acquires an additional aesthetic value through the richly illustrated accompanying book; the collaboration with the Museum Catharijneconvent Utrecht also turns a first-class musical interpretation into a visual experience. Paintings, valuable cult objects such as cups for the Lord's Supper, incense burners, magnificently bound missals and other valuable altar utensils illustrate the central importance of the Mass as the most important service of the Catholic Church, which is rich in rites. Precious dinner sets, which were used in the Protestant divine service, testify that the celebration of the Lord's Supper was also the second highlight of the Sunday divine service in Bach's own denomination in addition to the sermon. Detailed texts describe the complicated history of the origin of Bach's High Mass in B minor and offer detailed explanations of the function and use of the cult objects. • (msza h-moll )