Mon 11 Sept
J. S. Bach
Organ Mass
8:30pm | St. Stephen’s
Listen to Johann Sebastian Bach's organ mass, music that leaves no one cold, that from the Kyrie to the plea for peace deeply touches and gives the soul. Bach demonstrates the sheer infinite wealth of imagination of his compositional art.
The Rheintaler Bach Choir is immersing itself in the chorales on which the organ mass is based and is very much looking forward to singing the demanding movements in St. Stephen's Cathedral. It will be conducted by Alexander Seidel from the cembalo, as it might have been held by Bach.
Bach published a series of organ works and choral arrangements in Leipzig in 1739, based on - to people of that time - well known chorales. In modern times, it is certainly not wrong not to expect the same familiarity from the listener and to place the choral singing of the Rheintaler Bach Choir alongside the organ works. The 27 movements of the so-called Organ Mass, were named by Bach himself as "Clavier-Übung 3. Teil", whereby "Clavier" in Bach's time was still the collective term for everything that had keys; at that time there was no irritation when "Clavier" meant the organ. Later, the work was called an "organ mass" because the movements were arranged according to the course of a church service. The fascinating variety of Bach's composition between magnificent sound splendor and simple, even introverted moods is wonderfully displayed in the "Organ Mass".
The Rheintaler Bach-Chor cultivates demanding choral singing and gives dedicated amateur singers access to great choral works. The Rheintaler Bach-Chor is "borderless" and thus contributes to the networking of the Lake Constance-Alpine Rhine region; it is a valuable human and cultural exchange across borders.
