Winnipeg Singers Perform With MCO
The Winnipeg Singers with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Bach’s Lutheran Mass, 2022/10/26
Lutheran Mass in F Major, BWV 233 (c. 1738-39)
Alexander Weimann, harpsichord/leader
October 26, 2022, at Westminster United Church, Winnipeg
December 8, 2022, start VIEW ONLINE.
By the time Bach composed the four brief, so-called 'Lutheran' Masses, BWV 233-236, he had virtually given up composing new music to sacred texts. To create the church music of his later years, including these shorter Masses, he took music from previously existing, German-language cantatas and matched it with different, Latin texts.
The scoring calls for three vocal soloists (there is no tenor), a four-part chorus, two horns, one each of oboe and bassoon, strings and continuo.
The Mass opens with a lovely Kyrie (Lord, have mercy). Bach featured the horns to brilliant effect in the festive following section, Glo-ria. The bass soloist, Matt Pauls, is featured in the gently flowing Domine Deus (Lord God), soprano, Ainsley Wray, and solo oboe in the heartfelt lament of Qui tollis (Who takes away). Quoniam tu solus (Since only you are holy, countertenor solo, Donnalynn Grills) continues the reflective mood, which is joyously put aside in the concluding section, Cum Sancto Spiritu (With the Holy Spirit).
