The Critical Discographies from Choral Music On Records - Mass in B Minor Pages at the Teri Noel Towe Home Pages
Johann Sebastian Bach
The Critical Discographies from Choral Music On Records
This remarkable photograph is not a computer generated composite; the original of the Weydenhammer Portrait Fragment, all that
remains of the portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach that belonged to his pupil Johann Christian Kittel, is resting gently on the surface
of the original of the 1748 Elias Gottlob Haussmann Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach.
1748 Elias Gottlob Haussmann Portrait, Courtesy of William H. Scheide, Princeton, New Jersey
Weydenhammer Portrait Fragment, ca. 1733, Artist Unknown, Courtesy of the Weydenhammer Descendants
Photograph by Teri Noel Towe
©Teri Noel Towe, 2001, All Rights Reserved
The Critical Discographies from Choral Music On Records
Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
The Earliest Recordings
The earliest recordings of any portion of the Mass appear to be a group of four 12" 78s recorded by His Master's Voice at a Royal
Albert Hall concert in 1926. [2] The Royal Choral Society, a massive choir, under the direction of the highly regarded organist and
choirmaster Dr. E. C. Bairstow, sings with gusto and with surprising subtlety in the handful of choruses that were rather inexpertly
recorded by a pioneer mobile recording team. One cannot help but wonder what the solos in this concert performance of the Mass
were like, but these eight sides give the curious listener a fascinating glimpse into Bach as his music was understood England before
the Second World War and before the revival of interest in the "correct" performance of early music took hold.
Of greater importance, particularly to those who are interested in the history of performance practice as it is documented on
records, is a recording of the "Cum sancto spiritu" by the Berlin Philharmonischer Chor under the direction of its founder, Siegfried
Ochs (1858-1929) , a distinguished choral conductor who stood in a direct line of pedagogical descent from Felix
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. [3] His fleet, broadly phrased, urgent, and dramatic account of the final chorus of the "Gloria" provides an
important, invaluable, and tantalizing hint of what the true Mendelssohnian Bach style must have been like. {For a discussion of the
importance of Siegfried Ochs's recordings to our knowledge of historic performance practice, please read Present Day
Misconceptions About Bach Performance Practice in the 19th Century - The Evidence of the Recordings.}
The first complete recording of the Mass was made in 1929 [4]; there were seven sessions over a ten week period, beginning March
18 and ending May 31. Under the direction of Albert Coates, this wildly uneven production contains many marvelous moments.
Among them are the contributions of the stellar vocal quartet: radiant singing from Elisabeth Schumann in the duets, a suitably brisk
"Laudamus te" from the underestimated alto Margaret Balfour, a moving "Benedictus" from the silver-throated Walter Widdop, and
a stellar "Quoniam" and "Et in spiritum sanctum" from the remarkable Friedrich Schorr, a great Wagnerian bass who nonetheless
could sing early music with emotion, empathy, a clear, full tone, and exemplary diction. In fact, it can be safely said that neither of
these two arias has ever been better sung on records.
Among the negatives are the crazy balances between chorus and orchestra, Coates's penchant for massive ritards before side
breaks, the panoply of continuo instruments (Some of the arias have piano, others the harpsichord; organ is used in the choruses.),
and some simply horrendous intonation. (How the two English horns managed to stay so consistently out of tune with one another
in the "Et in spiritum sanctum" is an enigma for the ages!) Clearly, recording the Mass was a challenge to all concerned, performers
and engineers alike; they accepted it eagerly, and, uneven though the results may be, this important and unjustly forgotten recording
stood alone in the catalogue for nearly two decades.
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