Bach-Mass in B Minor

About

Armonico Consort & Baroque Orchestra

Director | Christopher Monks

Soprano | Elin Manahan Thomas

It could be argued that the work should have been titled ‘Bach’s Greatest Hits’, for that is what Bach himself aimed to achieve with this masterpiece. Composed over the final 25 years of his life, completed just one year before he died, the Mass in B Minor is scattered with music and references that Bach considered to be his best work, or movements which he had allowed to develop over time, and had returned to ‘perfect’ at a later date. For a composer who wrote so ferociously throughout his life to take such care over this work is a testament as to why musicians simply adore performing it.

 ‘It is the best of him, and it helps bring out the best in us.’

 Never performed complete in his lifetime, the work is in effect Bach’s own self-obituary – how he wanted to be remembered by the world. If you have never heard it live, this is absolutely one concert you must not miss.