Since its rediscovery and first complete performance in the mid-nineteenth century, Bach's B minor Mass has generally been produced with the large, sometimes gargantuan, performing forces typical of that era in the kinds of ensembles gathered for Mendelssohn's oratorios and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. Twentieth century scholarship has uncovered information about performances of individual movements of the Mass during the composer's lifetime indicating that, in spite of its length, Bach intended it to be a chamber piece for ...
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Since its rediscovery and first complete performance in the mid-nineteenth century, Bach's B minor Mass has generally been produced with the large, sometimes gargantuan, performing forces typical of that era in the kinds of ensembles gathered for Mendelssohn's oratorios and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. Twentieth century scholarship has uncovered information about performances of individual movements of the Mass during the composer's lifetime indicating that, in spite of its length, Bach intended it to be a chamber piece for small vocal and instrumental ensembles. In 1981, conductor Joshua Rifkin released a controversial recording of the Mass with just one singer per part, a practice that has become increasingly common, so Baroque specialist Marc Minkowski's version isn't revolutionary -- he uses 10 singers rather than 5 -- but he divides the work's solos among all the singers, and some choruses use two singers per part while some use only one. The listener's personal preferences may orient him or her to...
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Add this copy of Bach: Mass in B Minor to cart. $11.76, good condition, Sold by Book Alley rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Pasadena, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Naive.
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