I.S. Bach Mass C. Minor
The most monumental and large-scale masterpiece of Johann Sebastian Bach and today collects large concert halls. Beautiful music penetrates the depths of the heart and awakens the most sublime thoughts and aspirations in man. It is amazing how much influence the creation of the son of man can have on other people.
Mass
Almost all composers in one way or another turned to spiritual music. There were those who wrote exclusively for church worship. They are little known to the general public. The great authors who entered the history of world musical culture, more often wrote concert versions of liturgical chants on the canonical text. The theme of the relationship between man and god is one of the most profound, philosophical, allowing to express a very complex range of human feelings and thoughts.
Mass as a musical genre has developed around the XIV-XV century. Traditionally, it included the most significant parts of the liturgical service in Catholicism:
- Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy);
- Gloria (Glory);
- Credo (Symbol of Faith "I Believe");
- Sanctus (Holy);
- Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).
The names are taken from the initial words of the cult prayers. The religious text was always unchanged and was performed by the choir and soloists accompanied by an organ in Latin. Later, solemn masses began to write with orchestral sound. The Catholic Mass has always been more pompous and colorful, even for a church performance, not to mention stage performance. In comparison with her, the Orthodox ritual ministry is more modest, external effects were actively condemned by churchmen, and even works intended for the stage, as well as written by PI. Tchaikovsky, S.V. Rachmaninov, S.I. Taneyev and many others cry out to the inner voice of the human soul. Whereas the Catholic Mass glorifies the greatness and triumph of the Absolute God. These features are noticeable in music.
History of creation
Over this monumental work of Bach worked more than a dozen years. Starting to write it in 1724, graduated in about 1749. But at the same time most of the entered musical material (two-thirds) was taken from previously written works, and the composer contributed to editing until his death. The Mass of C Minor became for him central in all his work, the apex and offering to the life-giving force that gave him an extraordinary musical gift.
Johann Sebastian himself was a Lutheran faith. But the Elector (ruler), in the service of which he was a member, adopted Catholicism, becoming the king of Poland. Gradually, the whole Dresden court moved to Catholicism. Bach, who was at that time a court composer with a very substantial salary and who had in this connection great artistic freedom, sought to conscientiously fulfill his duties. So there were several oratorios, Mass and cantatas.
For the first time the notes of the first two parts ("Kyrie" and "Gloria"), he sent to his ruler in 1733, accompanying them with a modest request to appreciate not the merits, but the sovereign's greatest mercy. At that moment he expected to get the position of court conductor, after 4 years he took it.
Researchers put forward many assumptions about what was the main motive for the creation of this magnificent and grandiose work. According to one version, Bach hoped to complete it by the opening of a new church in Dresden in the late 1740s. But its construction was delayed until 1751. A year earlier, in 1750, Johann Sebastian Bach passed away.
It was also assumed that she was expected to be ready for a specific event in Vienna at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. This information is based on the relationship of Bach with some high-ranking official, Count Johann Adam von Questenberg. But most likely, it was about the performance of some numbers.
Nevertheless, most bach scholars tend to think that the composer himself was striving to significantly expand the possibilities of performing sacred music, perhaps he himself, with the vision of the genius, foresaw the subsequent development of musical art and its role in the life of society.
The manuscript is preserved in the archive of Johann Sebastian’s second known son, Philip Emanuel Bach. He also belongs to the orchestral introduction to "Credo", which was absent in the author's score. Presumably, the name "High" of the mass appeared from the light hand of the publisher Simrok in 1845.
Bach's High Mass Minor
Johann Sebastian Bach lived in a time when composers financially supported the Church and the aristocracy. He worked all his life in various parishes as an organist. Moreover, he was well known in Protestant Germany as an excellent organist performer, teacher and musician. He also had the opportunity to work as a court conductor and a prominent public figure, writing music for entertainment events and ceremonies. Thus, in his entire life he has written over 1,000 works of a secular and spiritual nature.
The mass of the H-moll became the central work of all his work. His genius thought for a long time and designed it. Although art critics officially declare that he worked on it from 1733 to 1738, there is evidence that the idea might well have appeared as early as 1724. Given the grandeur of design, it would be quite natural.
The Bach approach to rethinking the Mass differs significantly from the traditional one for that time. Mainly content. In his work reigns deep philosophical reflection, a kind of monologue and appeal to God on behalf of a mortal. This is not a prayer in its classical sense, the ideological concept of such a message is much deeper. The words of the canonical text here rather help to "speak" in the appropriate language. But the dramaturgy is built up according to all the laws of drama - there is conflict, opposition, many contrasts, images of sadness, humility, jubilation and rage, anger complete and complete.
Bach took the traditional numbers and significantly expanded them, adding to each of several additional sections. As a result, the entire Mass of the C-Minor contained 24 rooms. Obviously, during the life of Bach, this musical form could not be embodied - it requires the highest skill from the performers, the church choir is not accessible, and in secular space there was no format for listening to such a complex musical work on a religious text (as it is now - a concert). But the individual numbers ("Kyrie", "Gloria") were performed.
The goals and motives that prompted the composer to create this masterpiece are still the subject of scientific debate. Karl Emmanuel Bach (son of Johann Sebastian, who became less famous than his father), called him the Great Catholic Mass. The first performance of the entire mass is documented in 1859. By the middle of the XIX century, it received wide recognition as one of the greatest compositions in the history of music, and today it is considered the best vocal and choral work.
Music of the Mass in B minor
In form, this is a closed loop work consisting of 24 numbers. Each of them can be performed separately, together they have many unifying elements - this is the tonal plan, and the so-called "thematic arches", a sequence of numbers. The expansion of the number of numbers while maintaining the original text unchanged was made possible by separating individual phrases from a prayer into a whole opus. It also allowed the composer to place his semantic accents in the content.
The richness of the images of the Mass are amazing. There is grief, quiet joy, solemn triumph, hope, suffering. The whole range of true human feelings is transmitted by the composer with amazing authenticity and power. The main principle of dramatic development, similar to the symphonic one, is based on the contrast comparison of images, alternation of choral and solo parts, chamber and tutty. In this, the author also beat the contemporaries who work in the polyphonic style.
The instruments of the orchestra and musical means embody the lyrical images. So, the theme of grief and suffering (which began in the first issue of "Kyrie eleison") is transmitted by the sound of strings, in a melody the minor, a lot of chromaticities, "intonations sigh" prevail. The theme of light and tranquil meditation is expressed by woodwind, major mood, soft harmonious turns, transparent texture. The theme of the celebration and affirmation of faith takes place in brass, in major, in ascending intonations. The change of timbre paints organically supports the idea of opposition.
The Mass opens with a five-part fugue. "Kyrie eleison ". The mighty opening forte is like the cry of sinners crying out for forgiveness. This is the collective repentance of the whole human race, symbolized by the choir. Divided into 3 parts, the prayer "Lord, have mercy" in the center has a contrasting light verse "Christe eleison" (Christ, have mercy), which will become the prototype of the future celebration in "Gloria" ("Glory"). On a similar mechanism of interweaving in musical and dramatic material of images from different spheres, a complex through-shaped figurative development was built.
Listening to a work has a tremendous impact on listeners. Written with the greatest composing and psychological skill, more than 250 years ago, today it not only has not lost its relevance. It is more necessary, clearer and more accessible to the thinking of modern man more than at the time when it was created.
Interesting Facts
- In this work, Bach not only reproduced his earlier works, he also brought in a lot from those composers who lived before him or at the same time as him, which we already know very little about, but they inspired him.
- I.S. Bach did not name the Mass. He kept notes in 4 folders, each had its own title: "Missa" ("Kyrie" and "Gloria"), "Symbolum Nicenum" ("Symbol of Faith" - "Сredo"), "Sanctus" and "Osanna".
- There are 2 autograph works. One contains the score of 1733, written in Dresden (part of "Kyrie" and "Gloria"). The second is a full autograph with all the changes made by the author until 1749, inherited by CPE Bach ("Hamburg" or "Berlin" Bach, son of Johann Sebastian Karl Philipp Emanuel).
- One of the versions of why the Mass had the second name “High” consists in the fact that, in contrast to cantatas, passions, oratorios, having no direct purpose to be performed during the service, the true orbit of its plans is the ethical and aesthetic ideals of an ordinary person.
- Many outstanding composers admired Messa, recognizing its exceptional importance and the benchmark of lyrical and philosophical themes in music.
Modern practice of execution and interpretation
In the preserved score, the author’s hand indicates the composition for performing the Mass: choir (about 15 people, including soloists), 2 violins, 1 viola, continuo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes (or 3), three trumpets, and timpani. Since that time, concert performing art has been significantly transformed. It went its long way, experiencing the influence of those innovations that appeared in the music.
Therefore, you can often hear the performance of ancient music in several interpretations. So, Bach's Mass in C minor has been performed for a long time under the influence of romantic tendencies - a tendency to slow down, to strengthen all nuances, to be monumental. One example is the performance of a mass under the direction of conductor Karl Richter. His interpretation is now considered a classic, it is less similar to the original version of I.S. Bach and in general on the style of baroque music, but it has absolute artistic value.
In contrast, there is an authentic interpretation of the Belgian (Flemish) authenticist Philip Herreweguet (born 1847). He completely recreates the performing style, corresponding to the era of Bach, and uses ancient instruments. This more strict, even ascetic performance, however, influences the music itself on the depths of the human soul.
Hellmuth Rilling, Frans Bryggen, and John Elliott Gardiner are also among the popular interpreters of the Mass. SI minor.
The Mass of B minor by Johann Sebastian Bach is considered the highest achievement in academic musical culture. This is the highest level of understanding of the earthly and sublime nature, embodied in music. Only truly super-genial compositions become more important for humanity after centuries.
Leave Your Comment