大象传媒

Jonathan Freeman-Attwood for Building a Library surveys recordings of Lutheran Masses by JS Bach.

Each of Bach's cantatas, tied to a particular date in the liturgical calendar, had a limited shelf-life with no more than three performances before a new one was required. But a Mass setting had the potential to be used much more frequently and Bach recycled some of his best cantata movements in his four Masses intended for liturgical use. For many years these so-called Lutheran masses, setting only the Kyrie and Gloria, were overshadowed by the great B minor Mass (rendered unperformable in his lifetime, as Bach well knew, by its full Catholic setting of the text). But these utilitarian works are stuffed full with some of Bach's best music and have been recorded by many of the top international professional choirs and period instrument ensembles.

Recommended recording: Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphael Pichon (conductor)

Available on:

JS Bach: Missae Breves complete recordings BWV 232-236
JS Bach: Missae Breves complete recordings BWV 232-236
BACH, J S: Mass in B minor, BWV232; Mass in F major, BWV233; Mass in A major, BWV234; Mass in G minor, BWV235; Mass in G major, BWV236
Ensemble Pygmalion, Raphael Pichon (conductor)
ALPHA ALPHA816 (3CD)

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