Messe in H-moll (sometimes called the High Mass after German Hohe Messe) is not only the peak of Bach’s legacy, but a top work in world culture. The piece is enveloped by a number of mysteries and riddles and the first of them is why Bach wrote a Catholic mass even though his works are deeply rooted in Protestant tradition. A possible answer can be found in a saying by the great scholar, writer, musician, enlightener, expert on Bach’s works and Nobel Prize winner Albert Schweitzer:
“Agitated elevation is what determines the content of the B minor Mass. From the very first chord of Kyrie you are transferred to the world of a great and deep feeling and you remain in that mood until the final cadence of Donna nobis pacem. As if Bach wanted to create a Catholic mass to convey the great objectivity of faith. At the same time, other parts are imbued with a subjective mental state which is inherent in his cantatas and which is considered more intrinsic to Protestantism. The majestic and the spiritual in the Mass are not united and do not mix, but coexist separately, one apart from the other, as the objective and the subjective in Bach’s world view. This is why the Mass in B minor is just as mysterious and inscrutably deep as the religious feeling of its author.”Bach never heard a complete performance of his Mass in B minor. Among the reasons are incredible technical difficulties, which could not be overcome by ordinary church singers and choir, and the immensity of the composition. The first public performance of the Mass in B minor, conducted by Carl Riedel, took place in Leipzig in 1859.
Jan Latham-Koenig, conductor:
“Three years ago we decided to start Baroque tradition in this theatre. This is very unusual for an opera theatre to do this. Therefore it was very important for us to start with one of the most important Baroque pieces which was the Bach St. Matthew Passion. We did this. And after a huge amount of work it was extremely successful. In fact we had to repeat it at the Epiphany Festival about 6 months after we first did it. Then we decided to continue this but with another great Baroque work which was Handel’s Messiah, which we did last summer. And now I think we have firmly established a tradition of a choral festival in May or June, so we have chosen another Baroque masterpiece which is the Bach Mass in B minor.
I sung in the chorus my first performance of B minor Mass when I was a school boy aged 13. And this was regarded such a normal part of the repertoire, this Baroque music. I know the whole piece without even thinking about it, because we did it so often – St. Matthew Passion, the Messiah, the B minor Mass. Admittedly, then in a slightly different way. And I am changing this.
I am reminded of the great German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who said: “It is incorrect to say that Bach has any less soul or emotion than Puccini simply that the soul and the emotion is less exposed”. And this remains for me absolutely the correct way to look at Bach.”