The greatest artwork of all times and of all people

A glittering cast of soloists will join the Cambridge Philharmonic Society on March 21st to perform J S Bach’s monumental B Minor Mass, a work described by most scholars as the greatest example of the classical choral tradition, and which Hans Georg Ägeli in the nineteenth century called “the greatest artwork of all times and of all people”.

Programming this great work is yet another step in the bold programming of the Cambridge Philharmonic’s adventurous music director, Tim Redmond, in a season which has included everything from Beethoven’s Eroica symphony to the work of John Adams, one of the greatest living composers; from a concert performance of La Bohème to a family concert including musical versions of Roald Dahl, and themes from Harry Potter. And at the centre of the season is the B Minor Mass by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Scholars have long argued about how and why Bach’s great work was finally constituted from the individual movements which the composer wrote over a period of time. Some of its earlier movements were written for a Catholic king; some appear to celebrate the Lutheran liturgy. What we do know, however, is that the final form of the Mass was only available in the year before the old man’s death in 1750. And yet, despite its piecemeal creation, the B Minor Mass seems to have an over-arching design which unites the complex artistry of arguably the greatest composer in the western classical tradition. Just listen to the Credo with its great symmetrical arch of sound; become absorbed in the variety of styles and compositional devices which Bach uses. The B Minor Mass is a synthesis of his expertise in vocal writing, whether for soloists of full choir. In its technical polish and deep-rooted spirituality, listening to this work promises an evening of sustained beauty, of profound and tranquil emotion. Indeed, even if all the other works that JS Bach were somehow lost to humanity, the B Minor Mass would stand as a majestic monument to the extraordinary talent of a complex, sometimes brittle, and yet deeply spiritual man.

The soloists for the performance on March 21 include the Dutch Soprano Frederique Klooster, Katie Bray, Laura Kelly, Alex Sprague and Marcus Farnsworth.

Date: Sunday 21st March 2010
Time: 7.30pm
Place: West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Conductor: Timothy Redmond
Tickets: £12 £18 £24 from the Cambridge Arts Theatre Box Office (01223 503333) or online at www.cam-phil.org.uk

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