JS Bach – Mass in B Minor BWV 232: a rich tapestry of voice and instruments combining drama with emotional and spiritual depth

Musicians: London Handel Players, directed by Adrian Butterfield

Choir: Pegasus Choir

Soloists:
Julia Doyle – soprano

Daniel Taylor – alto -see here

Ruairi Bowen – tenor

Ashley Riches – bass

There will be a bar.

Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and Elector of Saxony, died in 1733.Bach wrote on a “Missa”, a portion of the liturgy sung in Latin and common to both the Lutheran and Roman Catholic rites, dedicated to the new Elector, Augustus III, a convert to Catholicism, with the hope of obtaining the title "Electoral Saxon Court Composer”, which he did in 1736.

Bach’s completion of the full Mass, in the Catholic tradition, was the last work he wrote, and is unusual in that in Bach's day, masses composed for Lutheran services usually consisted only of a Kyrie and Gloria.Not only is this a full mass, in the Catholic tradition, but unusual in its scale in the range of instruments and voices: a performance lasting a glorious two hours.One of Bach’s most popular vocal works, its earliest documented full performance took place in 1859.

Review of the B Minor Mass by London Handel Players at the Wigmore Hall on 3 February by Barry Creasy, published 5 February 2025 in Opera and Classical Music Review, music OMH: “The London Handel Players and Butterfield deliver Bach like no others. An intimate and hugely enjoyable performance… dynamic shifts and phrasing seemed to happen in that instinctive way that indicates that everyone really did inhabit the music…the dances between soloists and obbligato instruments in the arias were flawless… Daniel Taylor gave a purity of tone”.