BACH’S monumental Mass in B Minor was given its first English performance at the 1886 Leeds Triennial Musical Festival. On that auspicious occasion, Sir Arthur Sullivan presided over vast orchestral and choral forces.
Fashions change, however, and performance practice evolves. The minimalists among today’s period performance exponents do the Mass in B Minor with a tiny orchestra and just ten singers - five soloists and five ripieni (chorus) voices.
Good Friday’s concert was given by St Peter’s Singers and the National Festival Orchestra conducted by Dr Simon Lindley.
The performance represented a return to a meatier, but still very lean sound. The combined forces of 45 singers and 23 instrumentalists were ideal for the music - and the Minster setting.
Whatever the scale of forces, Dr Lindley’s presence on the podium is a virtual guarantee of an incisive vocal line and a sense of momentum.
In this meticulously paced reading, the radiance of the Gloria and the majesty of the Gratias agimus Tibi (We give thanks to Thee) contrasted with a chamber music-like intimacy in Domine Deus, Rex Coelestis (Lord God, Heavenly King). The pellucid soprano and tenor solo voices accompanied by flute and muted upper strings seemed to hang in the air.
Et Resurrexit tertia die (And the third day he rose again) exploded from the pages of the score. The Sanctus and Osanna in Excelsis had a certain buoyancy and brightness. A tender alto solo, Agnus Dei qui tollis (O Lamb of God) with unison violins, led into Dona nobis pacem (Grant us peace). In this stupendous final chorus, the careful build-up to a crescendo of voices, orchestra, gleaming trumpets and the ringing tones of the Minster’s grand organ made tears prick the eyes. Proof positive that it is possible to achieve soul-piercing immediacy without cutting the number of performers to the bone.
Geoffrey Mogridge
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