0:05 Kyrie eleison (Coro) 11:07 Christe eleison (Duetto) 15:56 Kyrie eleison (Coro) 19:43 Gloria in excelsis Deo (Coro) 21:25 Et in terra pax (Coro) 26:06 Laudamus te (Aria) 30:09 Gratias agimus tibi (Coro) 33:19 Domine Deus (Duetto) 38:39 Qui tollis (Coro) 41:39 Qui sedes (Aria) 45:50 Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Aria) 50:33 Cum Sancto Spiritu (Coro) 54:14 Credo in unum Deum (Coro) 56:13 Patrem omnipotentem (Coro) 58:15 Et in enum Dominim (Duetto) 1:02:38 Et incarnatus est (Coro) 1:05:52 Crucifixus (Coro) 1:08:58 Et resurrecit (Coro) 1:12:56 Et in Spiritum Sanctum (Aria) 1:18:13 Confiteor (Coro) 1:22:18 Et expecto (Coro) 1:24:30 Sanctus (Coro) 1:26:58 Pleni sunt caeli 1:29:19 Osanna in exelsis (Coro) 1:31:59 Benedictus qui venit (Aria) 1:36:22 Osanno in excelsis (Coro) 1:39:05 Agnus Dei (Aria) 1:45:17 Dona nobis pacem (Coro)
There is a joke among musicians here in Croatia. I apologise if it sounds sacrilegious, it's just a joke. When Mozart died Saint Peter welcomed him in Heaven and took him to meet God. As they slowly made their way Mozart was thrilled to hear the heavenly sounds of what he thought was the most beautiful music one could imagine. It was Heaven's choir and orchestra. Thinking this he met the Lord and the Lord said unto him: "Oh Mozart! I am very pleased you're here. You will be in charge of the ensemble." And Mozart, a little bit confused, responded: "I would be most honored, oh Lord. But... Do I deserve such a position? I mean, isn't Bach around somewhere?" And God looked at him calmly and said: "I'm Bach."
I live in a small town in Turkey, where I don't have the chance to attend concerts or something. Through your channel, I can breathe, and I'm sure there are many others like me. For this, thank you Netherlands BAch Society; you brighten up my small world.
I'm also in Turkey, in a village in the hills near Muğla. I love it but like you, NBS is my lifeline to the outside world, so you're not alone. Mutlu ol dostum !
What a time to be alive. Flip on the computer, and enjoy one of the greatest performances of the greatest masses ever written. Anytime you want! Wonderful rendition, thank you, from Los Angeles!
I agree with you, but in the other hand, I think that listening to a record and not to the true acoustic sound that goes from the instruments it's like eat a fruit and taste the taste but not recive the vitamins or, like to watch a landscape throu a video.
As a 12 year old violin student, I remember telling my music master that this was the greatest piece of music ever written. I am now 74 years of age and i have never strayed from that insight shown all those years ago. Let's also give thanks to Felix Mendelssohn who worked diligently to bring back the wonderful music of JSB after a gap of nearly a century when it fell out of favour.
How right you are! I'm your age, and I don't play any instrument...but when I discovered this masterpiece at the age of about 24, I said the same thing, and I never changed my mind!
The specialty of 'natural religion' in philosophy has a variety of 'arguments' for the existence of God. The Cosmolgical, the Teleological, the Ontological, and others. I state without irony that the music of Bach is proof in itself that there is a divine highest dimension.
Thank God it is. So much stuff is a complete rip-off nowadays, and it is usually sub-par things that cost lots of money. Real art is truly transcedental and devoid of monetary value, hence the fact that these performances are free.
@@RobLaMacchia Thank you for commenting Robert. I have within a few clicks found the donations page on All of bach and from there it is easy to contribute through Paypal and, presumably, via other sources too. These superb artists so deserve it!
After a mere 10 minutes and 55 seconds... Twenty-four years of life with a tyrannically autistic son, the slow slow breakdown of married life, the stress, the fear, the denial, the repression of emotion - and yet the determination not to despair - all somehow revealed, dissolved and healed by the astonishing, heart-stopping, intensely redemptive beauty of this transcendentally penetrative music. Bach reaches in, takes hold of the soul, squeezes out the tears, and you are renewed. Don't give up; listen to Bach.
Did youtube seriously remove my reply??? If so let me say it again: Calling your own son "tyranically autistic" shows me that Child Protective Services should have been at your doorstep. You are a piece of crap and a bad father! I hope your son takes well deserved revenge on the man that ruined his life!
All the NBS videos are outstanding from the artists to the audio and video work. They probably even had excellent food behind the scenes to keep everyone fed during the productions.
I have lost count of how many times my inner voice tells me that I won't survive another hour without Bach, especially this Mass, his other Masses and Oratorios. This brings back balance and the desire to live fully in this challenging and often very trying time. It is an endless source of comfort and inner peace. Thank you Johan Sebastian and thank you all musicians, engineers, operators and just everybody connected to this incredible project for providing this fantastic performance to the world!
His music truly is beautiful. Its inspiration is from Christ, truth and beauty itself. Without Christ we are empty and without purpose. My friend turn to Him and He will carry your burdens. May God bless you
My mind simply stops working at the thought that this masterpiece most likely was never performed during the lifetime of its creator ... In other words, at the time of its creation it only existed in the mind of its maker, pretty much like its instrumental equivalent known as "The Art of Fugue", another mind-boggling masterpiece that was never performed until God knows when but that until then took shape in the most divine of musical minds of all time ... Eternal thanks to the Netherlands Bach Society for such a timeless and historically informed performance of one of history´s musical landmarks!
The art of fugue is almost entirely for one keyboard instrument, and so would undoubtedly have been performed by Bach and others in his circle. The open score notation was traditional for some keyboard music, being used by Frescobaldi and Froberger among others, and by Bach in one manuscript of the six part ricercar from the Musical Offering. It is the fitting of the music under the fingers of two hands which demonstrates that this is keyboard music. Of course I agree with your description "the most divine of musical minds of all time."
Strange as it may seem, there is a group of diehard adversaries of this type of performance on You Tube. Some of them qualify all the Historical Informed Performance interpreters as hypocrites. Moreover, they refuse to accept how the placement of Bach's music on a historical perspective has brought new knowledge about this composer and artistic achievements of great value for his music.
@@stephenlee1756 I would like to see the dislike checks coded so they would not register unless accompanied with a reason for the dislike. That would separate legitimate criticism from those not familiar with choral works randomly searching through YT.
It's kind of funny that historically informed Baroque performances usually reduce the size of the ensemble whereas Bach himself was desperate to get more musicians for his music. The ensembles were small out of necessity, if Bach had been the one to decide he probably would have crammed as many musicians into the orchestra as possible. He would have been amazed by the Romantic interpretations that are so despised today.
@@hansmahr8627 I think that if Bach had larger ensembles he would have changed his style of composition. That being said, i agree that he would have been happy to have the resources. The scale here seems near perfect to me.
@Мамонт the only split that counts as its own part is sopranos here, every other part is just 3 for both II’s and I’s, I’m guessing the soloists take the I’s and ripienists the II’s?
I just came across this astounding performance. It has saved me from drowning in the dark waters of this hellish year. I am a conductor who has been deprived of live music since the spring that never came. This sublime performance (perhaps the finest I have ever heard) has helped to beat back the despair and deprivation that still hovers over us all. That such beauty even exists in this world is the greatest of wonders!
I don't think I've ever heard a more moving combination of really flawless solo performances, inspired collaboration of individual instrumentalists with the soloists, and the orchestral and choral forces. This performance approaches perfection at every level and in every way.
This version is indeed also one of my favorites, but one can also look into several excellent versions by Philippe Herreweghe, in particular the Collegium Vocale version here: th-cam.com/video/AQ2ndpcOM58/w-d-xo.html . Not claiming it is better, just also magnificient 🙂
Die Niederländer leben ihren christlichen Glauben in der Kunst und in der Musik und erst danach in ihrer Gesellschaft selbst und durch die Kunst und Musik erleben sie ihren Glauben damit und in ihr gesellschaftlich.
What would my 2020 look like without finding Netherlands Bach Society? Isolated working from home, such beauty has soothed me through this difficult year. So much talent in this group. From the soloists to the regulars who seem to inhabit every performance. I seem to know many of their idiosyncrasies, and even glimpses of their personalities. My favorite TH-cam channel by far.
@@lc9464 Possibly 2021-Covid is a rebuke from a loving God who wants us all to repent, to forgive those who have hurt us, and strive to ask for God's help to amend our lives.
In the midst of the corona virus pandemic, being one of the people who can't stop working because my line of work is deemed as essential, my mental health is suffering. Thank you for this! Thank you so much! This is helping, tremendously!
@@LachlanTyrrell2003 No. Lawyer, working for a bank, trying to find a way to keep interest rates low and helping people with their loans. The government ordered us to stay open.
Self care and a nice bear hug--one to another. Jonny is doing nothing less. A voice from the dust and "out of time." It's a love letter that took stubborn faith. "Hannes" (German for Johnny) just kept writing the notes down. He never had anything close to these resources to *physically* hear those ms-ed notes. Now look at you, JSB!! Lastly, I once sang bass in a Mozart Kyrie. Performance was in a week. At penultimate rehearsal the German woman conductor stopped us in the middle..looking frustrated and being visibly disgusted. I quote: "People do you not get this?!! A Kyrie is a 911 call to heaven. You are desperate. You look up and demand: 'have mercy and help me dammit!' " Indeed. Another group of homo sapiens who gives this inspiringly collected+killer passionate 911 call their all is John Elliot Gardener et al. It's here on YT, easy to find. And incredibly filmed. Brit BBC quality. NO social distance here, Mark from AZ living in Slc Utah in an almost surreal voluntary lockdown. I have not seen or heard a car come by all day on this Sunday in March 2020.
I REMEMBER THAT I WAS LAST YEAR IN THE HOSPITAL FOR MAOR SURGERY AND THE B MASS WAS PLAYING ON THE I PHONE RADIO, AND IT WAS A GREAT RELIEF BEING IN THE HOSPITAL AND BEING TRANSPORTED TO ANOTHER PLACE BY THIS MUSIC. I WAS VERY THANKFUL. THE OTHER MAN IN MY HOSPITAL ROOM HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA ABOUT THIS MUSIC AND HE POLITELY TOOK A LONG WALK THROUGH THE CORRIDORS OF THE HOSPITAL. HE WAS 70 YEARS OLD AND TOLE ME THAT HE LIKED ELVIS PRESELY, AND HE CAME FROM EL ESCORIAL, SPAIN. A GREAT CENTER OF HISORICAL MUSIC HERE.
Bach is officially my favorite composer, my favorite artist, my favorite everything in music. In the Netherlands Bach Society gave a superb performance and audio rendering here.
I make no apologies for repeating that our World is so much richer because it was visited by Johann Sebastian Bach. I feel compelled to reiterate how these wonderful interpreters of his uplifting musical magic sound fresh to me, irrespective of how many times I listen to their awe-inspiring performances. Their originally interpreted, beautiful version of this magnificent Mass brings tears of joy to my eyes - and takes me to where I feel to be Heaven on Earth. Wonderful performance of yet another of the many musical miracles by the Master - which I simply cannot get enough of. I feel that the NBS rehearse every phrase until it simply cannot be further improved - thus culminating in performances which are about as close to perfection as what a group of Earthlings can hope to achieve. Many thanks to the Netherlands Bach Society of musical geniuses and most excellent interpreters of maestro Bach. I absolutely love your performances.
Yes, and Bach did not burst into being in a vacuum. Yet from his emerging he siphon the filtered stimuli he encóuntered weaving, distilling a purest flavoured liquor appealing to the faintest and most overwhelming urges of the heart and mind.
The countertenor who sings the "Agnus Dei" in this master work, along with the incredible orchestra backing him up, brought tears to my eyes. Exquisite.
I had the good fortune to sing the B minor twice in my life (nobody special, just in the chorus). I'm 71 and those two occasions remain among the few great high points of my life. Thank you Bachvereniging for your wonderful work in making Bach so richly available to all of us.
It is encouraging that this has had so many views. I fear that what I see as world of trivialities, instant gratification and superficiality, fewer and fewer people take the time to listen to Classical music. I am not dismissing popular culture, merely wish that people would extend their horizons.
THERE ARE MORE THAN ONE MOST BEAUTIFUL PIECE EVER WRITTEN, MORE THAN ONE BEAUTIFUL MAN OR WOMAN OR ONE BEAUTIFUL ANIMAL,, OR FLOWER. OUR WORLD HAS LOTS OF BEAUTIFIES EVEN THOUGH THE TIMES ARE NOW UGLY.
@@ronwalker4849 This one is pretty good though, but how about some suggestions of what you think are this good or better - I love discovering new pieces!
From the inspired mind of a genius composer JSB to the humble ears of this plantation worker I can only say "Thank you". Superb presentation and performance by all. (From the tiny kingdom of Tonga - 2023)
What a performance! Hearing the Mass without an oversized orchestra/choir and the souped-up romanticism we're used to makes you realise how this stands at the pinnacle of Bach's work and genius.
Abolutely agree, Elliot! By the way, I kindly recommend the appreciation of the work of a living classical composer dedicated mostly to sacred music. I feel myself like a sort of non-official ambassador for his music - and, effectively, also one of his few supporters. He is very, very talented. You won't be disappointed. th-cam.com/users/WFerdinand
Absolutely. In addition I love the original instruments, the restrained use of vibrato in the strings, and especially in the soloists This is as perfect as it gets.
Agree. This are true prophetic times. Fortunately peace has been granted to us at Easter by the sacrifice of Jesus. We seem to have been halted to pay attention to just that.
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1896): "I always find Beethoven's C Minor concerto (the Third Piano Concerto) much smaller and weaker than Mozart's. . . . I realize that Beethoven's new personality and his new vision, which people recognized in his works, made him the greater composer in their minds. But after fifty years, our views need more perspective. One must be able to distinguish between the charm that comes from newness and the value that is intrinsic to a work. I admit that Beethoven's concerto is more modern, but not more significant! I also realize that Beethoven's First Symphony made a strong impression on people. That's the nature of a new vision. But the last three Mozart symphonies are far more significant. . . . Yes, the Rasumovsky quartets, the later symphonies-these inhabit a significant new world, one already hinted at in his Second Symphony. But what is much weaker in Beethoven compared to Mozart, and especially compared to Sebastian Bach, is the use of dissonance. Dissonance, true dissonance as Mozart used it, is not to be found in Beethoven. Look at Idomeneo. Not only is it a marvel, but as Mozart was still quite young and brash when he wrote it, it was a completely new thing. What marvelous dissonance! What harmony! You couldn't commission great music from Beethoven since he created only lesser works on commission-his more conventional pieces, his variations and the like. When Haydn or Mozart wrote on commission, it was the same as their other works." ( Composers On Music: Eight Centuries of Writings , Josiah Fisk, Jeff Nichols, Technical Group Leader High Performance Computational Chemistry Group Jeff Nichols | p.134~135 )
This, and The Art of Fugue! There's a pretty high place for Handel's Messiah as well! Perhaps Western civilization did not equal them again in any art until Tolkien! I love Beethoven, especially late Beethoven, but I keep coming back to Bach and Messiah!
NO WAY!!! That's ridiculous. From an artists point of view terrible. Bach is not able to capture the beauty of the truth... Jesus... with this music... never
@@thomasstock2726... Thomas, I resort to name-calling only for people who are too stupid to understand anything else: you hapless, halfwitted, idiotic, cretin.
a dozen singers here sound like fifty in their intensity. A word of praise and gratitude to the camera work --- enhances the excitement immeasurably throughout the performance. Wonderful altogether. This Mass is not a piece of music -- it's a whole country to explore afresh over and over.
This is also what I exactly thought. And yet Händel's Messiah and Israel in Egypt, Haydn's Nelson Mass, Mozart's Mass in C Minor and his Requiem didn't disappoint me at all. Even though Bach's masterpiece is untouchable... but that's also because he "cheated" choosing here a number of his most beautiful cantata movements. Who knows whether he included some of them while thinking about this, or not, but it is undoubtedly the best musical gift anyone has ever made to us! At least to me.
@@mirko9072 Well, placing the Nelson Mass anywhere close to the company of the other works you mentioned is odd, its nowhere close to their league, let alone of the other Bach masterpieces that you have omitted. There are dozens of great choral works in the baroque and classical repertoire but Bach's works deserve to be appraised at a totally different level to the Nelson Mass, don't you agree with no 'cheating' qualifications? Reading your comment again, I even wonder if you have even ever listened carefully to Bach's passions...
Hey, I’m relatively new to Bach (a few months) and have been listening to his passions. How are you supposed to listen to the whole thing though? A large majority of it is made up of recitatives and very short pieces of music. I’ve only really listened to the first movements so far.
@@LachlanTyrrell2003 If you're listening to the Passions, I'd recommend getting a copy of the libretto with an English translation (or the sheet music would be even better) and following along as the story unfolds. For the Mass in B minor, I'd take a similar approach, but remember that this is the liturgy that would be happening in the context of a worship service.
Transcendent! I recall Rick Beato mentioning the Netherlands Bach Society as maintaining Bach music in all its original glory. Glad to partake of these delights.
I am also happy about the fact that such a relatively small ensemble can make music with such a huge impact. Sometimes it is not needed orchestras with 100 persons and a choir also with 100 singers. For me this is the perfect ensamble for this music. This music is, and will always be, wonderful.
@@mozgren Yes, I´m also impressed by the way Carl Richter treats this music with this big orchestra and choir. And let me say this is the first moment I listen to this! I am just an amateur. So thank you for introducing me to Carl Richters world.
Look at how the two sopranists smile at each other at 11:07. Just beautiful to watch how connecting that music is and what joy they feel making such beautiful music together.
The magic of Bach is a given, but the NBS performances are revelatory. Watching these performances is a great support at this time of lockdown. Admiration and gratitude to the NBS.
I am in tears right now. How have I never spent the time to listen to this masterpiece before? I am not new to Bach by any stretch of the imagination, but from the first few seconds I got chills. It reminds me of my recently deceased grandparents (of which some events still haunt my dreams and cause nights full of crying and regret, even 6 months after they passed away). I have never had a piece or work bring that feeling up though. I cannot do anything but admire and shiver as I hear this unimaginably powerful music. I am really not sure what to say, Bach has surprised me yet again!
I too am at a loss to explain how I did not discover this sooner. At age 67 now, my touchstone since age 16 has been the Brandenburg concertos. This B minor mass is a revelation and of its sublime mysteries I will never tire. I am so grateful to the NBS for all their angelic efforts.
Heya wow, so nice to hear you are watching the channel from the other side of the world! The 'All of Bach' project however, is entirely funded by people's donations and not by governmental money.
Wasn't expecting to see anything like this behemoth of a masterpiece in my subscription list this morning. The recording quality is exceptional, and the music itself is extremely authentic and convincing. Not even 5 minutes in and it's already certainly in my top three recordings of the B minor. I certainly know what I'm spending my evening doing when I get home from work.
@@elizabethcartwright7633 Returning to this masterpiece today and I notice this comment chain. Long wait I know! My top three: 1) This very recording by the Netherlands Bach Society 2) Karl Richter's 1969 recording. @MattiaFormichetti was correct 3) Gardiner's recent 2015 recording.
An utterly incredible performance. The skill and quality of the musicians, the superb balance, and the inspired tempi come together to make what is arguably the best performance of the B-minor mass on TH-cam (for which there is significant competition). If you've ever sung the mass, you also know how much of a bear it can be and these performers absolutely smashed it. Great thanks to the Netherlands Bach Society for putting this on TH-cam. Very few groups can truly do justice to this incredible piece, but the Netherlands Bach Society has more than met the task. We are all very lucky to have such incredible performers providing this great cultural service.
Confession: I have been listening to this daily for about 2 months now, and also listening to his earlier masses and enjoying Bach's journey to the perfection of this work. Trial and error with every ingredient of art and viola. Being a poet of sorts and living with a consummate artist, creativity is a magical journey. Thank you, Bach.
I have heard this masterpiece many times, even played continuo in it, still tears burst out on this absolutely gorgeous rendition of Agnus Dei. What would I have done without Bach in my life!....
Thank you, Netherlands Bach Society, for posting this. For five years, my wife and I lived on a hill above the beautiful carillon tower situated on the grounds of the Iwo Jima Memorial. The carillon, generously donated to the people of the United States by the people of the Netherlands, was near enough our apartment that we could hear its chimes. I came to treasure the pure, musical tones as a peak experience from those years. Thanks to the Society, I've just added a new peak experience of shivers and thrills from this superb recording. Concerning the small number of voices, my experience in one of the choirs in which I've sung over the years prompts me to offer a comment. During my college years, I sang tenor in my university's touring choral group, "The Collegians." We were eighteen in number---four tenors, four sopranos, four altos and six basses. Our conductor, the late Gerald Ferguson, had made a side-study of physics. The first day of rehearsal he explained why he had limited membership to only eighteen voices when the previous conductor had admitted as many as fifty singers some years. Mr. Ferguson told us that, the larger the chorus, the greater the relative loss of some of the volume due to interference between the physical sound waves produced by voices singing at different amplitudes---that is, different volumes or levels of loudness. Professor Ferguson showed us graphs of sound waves illustrating how differing wave amplitudes interfered with each other to cancel part of the total volume produced. In essence, volume is a self-limiting characteristic governed by the number of sources. In choruses this means the more voices, the greater the percentage fall-off from the volume that would, in theory, be reached if all voices could sing together in perfect unison (synchronization). Putting it another way, in a choir, each singer's small deviations from the ideal of everyone singing in perfect unison contribute to a total interference that will reduce the volume produced by more than a hundred singers to that produced by eighteen singers of equal ability. Professor Ferguson arrived at these numbers with the help of a fellow faculty member teaching in the university's physics department. As intuition would suggest, our smaller group was able to initiate and release notes in synch with each other, and enunciate lyrics with greater precision than is humanly possible with a large chorus. That this greater precision made a significant contribution to our volume is supported by a newspaper review of a concert by the Collegians. Shortly before Christmas in 1968, we had performed an excerpted "Messiah" in the civic auditorium of the city of St. Joseph, Michigan. We were accompanied by the Twin Cities Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Hendrik Deblij. The next morning came a review of our performance by Noel Gersonde, music critic of the Herald Palladium, a newspaper with subscribers throughout Southwest Michigan since the early 1800s. Gersonde said the following in his review, which I treasured enough to cut from the newspaper. From my yellowed and brittle clipping, here is an excerpt (italics mine): "The old adage about strength being found in numbers cannot be applied to the Collegians. _Only eighteen in number, they sounded like a group ten times that size,_ yet maintained every detail of quality from the enunciation of words to artistry in performing this difficult music. . . .This group, small as they are, _pronounced each word so distinctly_ and sang each note with such warmth and understanding one came away with a feeling of great awe, both for them and for the music. The director, Gerald Ferguson deserves a great deal of credit for training such a superior group. . . ." With such a glowing review, I happily overlook the connotation of surprise in Gersonde's wording, no doubt unintentional, that our precise enunciation suggested an inverse relationship of chorus size to clarity of pronunciation. That is, after all, the other great gain from performances of small choruses, as this wonderful video of Bach's great masterpiece demonstrates with this magnificent performance. While it's my opinion that performances of sacred choruses---for example, in the Messiah---too often drag out the tempo, I agree that the pace in this performance of Bach's choral masterpiece was spot on, as best served the music's magisterial message and purpose.
That was a fascinating read. There is something powerful in the idea of a modern understanding of physics bettering our enjoyment of such old and timeless beauty.
I'm working on an incredibly stressful, time sensitive project without much sleep today. The peace your beautiful performances of Bach are giving me is literally keeping me from tears. Thank you so much.
Heavenly. Bach is the Master - and liturgical music is the greatest glory of European choral culture. I am a classical composer dedicated to church music, and I hope, with my works, to bring people closer to the divine, the beauty, the consolation.
Bravo, W. Ferdinand. I have a similar goal for the novel I am drafting now, possibly my last, after a career that began in 1976 when Doubleday published my second novel (the manuscript of the first rests in my office closet, never to be published, cherished only by me for drawing encouraging letters from two editors who didn't buy it, one at Putnam and the other at Doubleday, to whom I sold the second. I don't know if you would agree but, after going "all in" to a fundamentalist version of Christianity as a kid, then leaving it behind, except in memory, I have come to understood how valiantly people struggle to believe in both an omnipotent and a loving god. Novels that preach are nearly always dead on arrival and, anyway, I had more than enough of preaching as a kid who actually listened. This novel, like those published before it, will be what New York publishing calls a "thriller," and that is exactly what I want and intend to write. As readers experience the novel by slipping inside the characters I've provided and animating them with their own unique view on life, if, along the way, new ways to think about God occur to a reader, and those ways make loving their God easier, I would, of course, not be unhappy.
And how WONDERFUL to bring back the harpsichord continuo, which has been sorely missed in this kind of work since the prevailing fashion for organ continuo took over.
We sang this at Memorial Church, Harvard, conducted by John Ferris, and it would have been the Fall Semester 1968 or the Spring Semester, 1969, I believe. In the church. How extraordinarily fortunate we were to be able to do this. The Netherlands Bach Society is superb, beautiful beyond words. Thank you! And, in these troubled times, we do need this inspiration. Praying for the world.
When I watch this video it's tough to wrap my head around that this is these musician's job. This is what they do. They perform this music. I hope they know how lucky they are and how much all of their hard work has paid off. Just magnificent.
I’ve been a Bach fan since I was a teenager. I’ve tried the B minor Mass a few times since I was young and it never really clicked for me. Now at 35 I tried again about 2 weeks ago and somehow it was like a revelation. I’m now completely obsessed and am wondering what on earth I was thinking all these years. This is the greatest music I have ever heard. This performance being one of the best I have found so far.
Sometimes you just have to grow into it. I always liked the B minor Mass (well, once I heard it on period instruments), but when I was a teen I found the Passions really dull. Took me until my 30s to appreciate them properly.
@MW nyc totally agree! I grew up loving the B minor mass but didn't care much for the Passions untill I watched a live performance of St. John at the annual Carmel Bach festival. Incredible.
The first chord opened up and with it was brought a swarm of emotion describable only in music. B Minor is historically a key signature that represents a calm patience for God and His divine plan. In such a painfully dissonant world, I can feel the calming reassurance of the divine Hand's movement bringing rest as this piece's every chord rings out. Hundreds of years after this was composed, it still brings with it more truth and beauty than I could have thought possible in music. Much thanks to Bach for bringing us such reassurance and thanks, as well, to the Netherlands Bach Society for preforming it for us. Praise be to God for not leaving us in this life.
Although I don't believe in God, I can precisely relate to what you have said regarding this masterpiece, especially about the opening. There is something out of this world in this music.
I hope u believe God and His divine plan includes every person being redeemed ultimately and billions wont suffer eternal torment the thought of which makes any divinely inspired composition a nightmare.Jesus IS the SAVIOR of the WORLD not part of the world.
I have been listening to this almost daily as I sit working in near-isolation in my New York apartment during this pandemic. It offers such beauty and such hope. Thank you Bach, thank you the Netherlands Bach Society. God bless the human spirit, the human capacity for creativity, and the power of musical collaboration. It offers us much-needed uplift in these tough times.
After listening to this more than 200 times and learning to appreciate, I come to the conclusion that this performance is the epitome of moderation, i,e., everything fits perfectly. I can not think anything can be added, or altered, or subtracted to improve it. Thanks, NBS.
Right at the start, when the drone glides to the church and the sun is setting, and the choir sing these few first notes... such a goosebump moment! And the brilliant timing, that the singing stops when the sun disappears behind the church tower! Thank you NBS
Some of Bach's greatest compositions were written in Leipzig. The Mass in B minor, The St John and St Matthew Passions, Art of the Fugue, the giant B, E and C minor organ Prelude and Fugues, the numerous Cantatas. Leipzig is where Bach reached peak spiritual and technical depth in his compositions.
Wow! Original instruments in a few cases (wood transverse flutes, natural horns in the brass section) without even mentioning it and, rather than being a “look at me” distraction, the sound and internal balance is just perfect. I’ve been a part of this piece before and heard several, and this at or near the top. Such a relatively small choir and yet they can sound oceanic as required. Excellent, expressive, committed soloists. Well done!
Comme Jean-Sébastien Bach doit être heureux de voir et d'entendre Sa Messe en Si si justement interprétée. Quelle belle prière d'une heure trois quarts! Chaleureux merci à tous les musiciens et choristes, solistes ainsi qu'à vous leur Directeur, Monsieur Van Veldhoven.
What a performance of one of the greatest compositions of all time! I love this channel! Although all contributions are outstanding, I would like make special mention of the beautifully gentle tone of the tenor, the strength/depth of the alto, the sweetness of the flutes, the brave tone of the horn, the gutsy abandon of the bassoons, not to mention the exceptional qualities of the solo bass and sopranos, the ensemble work of the choir, the heavenly trumpets... the list of praise is endless!
Yes, exactly. It’s the sum of all of these excellences that make Van Veldhoven’s performance so affecting. I also love how all the soloists are so “out of the book.” This did not happen by accident! Really beautifully directed for television. Yes, beautiful profile shots and not just deadly flat-on shots. Can I hug Jos van Veldhoven?
Every release on this channel has been amazing. I have always admired Bach. However, as I get older I am totally amazed how truly great he is. His genius towers over every other composer. The work of the NBS does this genius full justice.
The world is such a crazy thing. I keep wondering why people would dislike such a heavenly masterpiece and the superb interpretation from these musicians and singers. There really must be something wrong with humanity.
the ratio is dislike EXTEMELY low though. There are not many people on the world (at the moment) acknowledging his genius. So that people who explicitly searching for this piece are absolutely overwhelmed by it.
I know it’s a cliche to refer to big, important works of art as “monumental,” “towering,” “earth-shattering,” and other superlatives. But this one earns it. A life’s work, study, and evolution through music in nearly two hours. It’s almost Shakespearean in the way it captures so many human emotions. Elegant, precise, balanced, and as close to perfection in a discipline as one can get. We are all lucky to get to experience this.
Hands down one of the greatest musical achievements in Western history. Bach's Mass in B Minor transcends the works of all other composers, like the peak of a mountain. No doubt he wished to cement his technique and his legacy by 1749. Excellent performance from the Netherlands Bach Society, full of reverence and poignancy. Well done!
It might be possible to overlook the Benedictus, followed closely as it is by the Agnus - and with a terrific alto. But it would be a mistake to overlook the quiet brilliance of the flautist. He makes the Benedictus look effortless. I love the way he very slightly lingers at the start of a phrase. It is so lovingly played. Thank you NBS for this performance. It has soothed my lockdown migraines!
This is perfection! No 'prima donne trying to steel the show' but great, solid soloists who know what Bach music is all about and perform for the love of it. Thank you.
Van harte gefeliciteerd De Nederlandse Bachvereniging Hoop dat we nog heel lang van jullie prachtige uitvoeringen mogen genieten, dat maakt het leven aangenaam.
0:05 Kyrie eleison (Coro)
11:07 Christe eleison (Duetto)
15:56 Kyrie eleison (Coro)
19:43 Gloria in excelsis Deo (Coro)
21:25 Et in terra pax (Coro)
26:06 Laudamus te (Aria)
30:09 Gratias agimus tibi (Coro)
33:19 Domine Deus (Duetto)
38:39 Qui tollis (Coro)
41:39 Qui sedes (Aria)
45:50 Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Aria)
50:33 Cum Sancto Spiritu (Coro)
54:14 Credo in unum Deum (Coro)
56:13 Patrem omnipotentem (Coro)
58:15 Et in enum Dominim (Duetto)
1:02:38 Et incarnatus est (Coro)
1:05:52 Crucifixus (Coro)
1:08:58 Et resurrecit (Coro)
1:12:56 Et in Spiritum Sanctum (Aria)
1:18:13 Confiteor (Coro)
1:22:18 Et expecto (Coro)
1:24:30 Sanctus (Coro)
1:26:58 Pleni sunt caeli
1:29:19 Osanna in exelsis (Coro)
1:31:59 Benedictus qui venit (Aria)
1:36:22 Osanno in excelsis (Coro)
1:39:05 Agnus Dei (Aria)
1:45:17 Dona nobis pacem (Coro)
Thanks!
❤
Thank you very much.
Is there a possibility to buy the recorded music? As high quality Audio? I do not see the recordings on the Google Play store for example.
Domine Deus 😍
There is a joke among musicians here in Croatia. I apologise if it sounds sacrilegious, it's just a joke. When Mozart died Saint Peter welcomed him in Heaven and took him to meet God. As they slowly made their way Mozart was thrilled to hear the heavenly sounds of what he thought was the most beautiful music one could imagine. It was Heaven's choir and orchestra. Thinking this he met the Lord and the Lord said unto him: "Oh Mozart! I am very pleased you're here. You will be in charge of the ensemble." And Mozart, a little bit confused, responded: "I would be most honored, oh Lord. But... Do I deserve such a position? I mean, isn't Bach around somewhere?" And God looked at him calmly and said: "I'm Bach."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
I hadn't heard this joke before 😂😂😂😂😂
This is BRILLIANT. I haven't laughed like that for so long...
Awe-f*king-some!!!!
Briljante mop 😂🙃
Yeah, once Bach heard the Requiem in D MInor, needed to acquire him pronto; went for the first expert pick . Go Celts.
The Netherlands Bach Society was founded in 1921. Just to remind everybody that the Society celebrates its centenary this year. Happy Birthday!
Glückwunsch!
Happy Birthday my dear bothers and sister in Christ. Your music gives so much hope. May the heavenly father bless you !
Hartelijke gelukwensen!
Happy birthday thanks for sharing Bach music with us all - great performances of the greatest composer ever.
Ho pubblicato una foto
I live in a small town in Turkey, where I don't have the chance to attend concerts or something. Through your channel, I can breathe, and I'm sure there are many others like me. For this, thank you Netherlands BAch Society; you brighten up my small world.
I'm also in Turkey, in a village in the hills near Muğla. I love it but like you, NBS is my lifeline to the outside world, so you're not alone. Mutlu ol dostum !
I had a holiday in Turkey recently. It is a wonderful place. Please keep it free from the hands of tyranny. Erdogan is a snake.
What a time to be alive. Flip on the computer, and enjoy one of the greatest performances of the greatest masses ever written. Anytime you want! Wonderful rendition, thank you, from Los Angeles!
Well said!
One of the best sounds human ears can hear
Absolutely. Utterly sublime.
Rod, I cannot agree more. Incredible Bach, wonderful Netherlands Bach Society. We are so lucky!
I agree with you, but in the other hand, I think that listening to a record and not to the true acoustic sound that goes from the instruments it's like eat a fruit and taste the taste but not recive the vitamins or, like to watch a landscape throu a video.
As a 12 year old violin student, I remember telling my music master that this was the greatest piece of music ever written. I am now 74 years of age and i have never strayed from that insight shown all those years ago. Let's also give thanks to Felix Mendelssohn who worked diligently to bring back the wonderful music of JSB after a gap of nearly a century when it fell out of favour.
What do you think about Mozart's Mass and Requiem?
@@duartemonteiro9459 Of Course They are excellent but they don't make me weep for joy in quite the same way.
I understand that Bach was revered by composers such as Mozart and Beethoven. Just not very popular among the late 18th Century audiences.
How right you are! I'm your age, and I don't play any instrument...but when I discovered this masterpiece at the age of about 24, I said the same thing, and I never changed my mind!
I think you, me, and many critics, agree, I just wish for another one or two Kyrie Eleisons somewhere: Cyrus, our King, Save Us.
I´ve whatched this video probably 50 times, and in every single one i think: "how could someone make art in such level of perfection?"
Dédé, faut acheter le coffret, tu auras moins mal aux yeux et c'est pas interdit de laisser le commentaire en francais non plus......
Dang. You spent 90 hours listening to Bach Mass In B Minor.
Toute la musique de Bach donne ce sentiment
The specialty of 'natural religion' in philosophy has a variety of 'arguments' for the existence of God. The Cosmolgical, the Teleological, the Ontological, and others. I state without irony that the music of Bach is proof in itself that there is a divine highest dimension.
@@jaikee9477 why ‘cause’?
The fact that this is free is absolutely shocking!
Thank God it is. So much stuff is a complete rip-off nowadays, and it is usually sub-par things that cost lots of money. Real art is truly transcedental and devoid of monetary value, hence the fact that these performances are free.
@@RobLaMacchia I'd say the perfomance and recording quality alone should be at least a few dollars.
Thanks, Deloitte
@@RobLaMacchia Thank you for commenting Robert. I have within a few clicks found the donations page on All of bach and from there it is easy to contribute through Paypal and, presumably, via other sources too. These superb artists so deserve it!
@@esdjesd8589 What does this even mean? "Real art" is certainly not "devoid of monetary value"
After a mere 10 minutes and 55 seconds... Twenty-four years of life with a tyrannically autistic son, the slow slow breakdown of married life, the stress, the fear, the denial, the repression of emotion - and yet the determination not to despair - all somehow revealed, dissolved and healed by the astonishing, heart-stopping, intensely redemptive beauty of this transcendentally penetrative music. Bach reaches in, takes hold of the soul, squeezes out the tears, and you are renewed. Don't give up; listen to Bach.
I've often said that they need to throw out all the psych meds and just tie people up and make them listen to Bach for 24 hours. Cured! Hang in there.
@@stevenallen5839 Is that an honest receip?. Guess better than medications at least.
@kenshersley, I'm sure Bach would have appreciated your comment..
Especially at a moment in history like this one, your words are so beautiful, so moving
Did youtube seriously remove my reply???
If so let me say it again:
Calling your own son "tyranically autistic" shows me that Child Protective Services should have been at your doorstep. You are a piece of crap and a bad father! I hope your son takes well deserved revenge on the man that ruined his life!
I love how clearly you can hear all the voicing. Truly the audio engineers who worked on this are every bit as talented as these soloists!
it is indeed a very good recording
Truly.
All the NBS videos are outstanding from the artists to the audio and video work. They probably even had excellent food behind the scenes to keep everyone fed during the productions.
you sir are a snob
The mixing on this is just as heavenly.
*Netherlands Bach Society* - probably the best TH-cam channel
Totalmente de acuerdo ❤
I have lost count of how many times my inner voice tells me that I won't survive another hour without Bach, especially this Mass, his other Masses and Oratorios. This brings back balance and the desire to live fully in this challenging and often very trying time. It is an endless source of comfort and inner peace. Thank you Johan Sebastian and thank you all musicians, engineers, operators and just everybody connected to this incredible project for providing this fantastic performance to the world!
Indeed. This world would be so much poorer without the unrivaled genius of Bach. I listen to him daily.
His music truly is beautiful. Its inspiration is from Christ, truth and beauty itself. Without Christ we are empty and without purpose. My friend turn to Him and He will carry your burdens. May God bless you
My mind simply stops working at the thought that this masterpiece most likely was never performed during the lifetime of its creator ... In other words, at the time of its creation it only existed in the mind of its maker, pretty much like its instrumental equivalent known as "The Art of Fugue", another mind-boggling masterpiece that was never performed until God knows when but that until then took shape in the most divine of musical minds of all time ... Eternal thanks to the Netherlands Bach Society for such a timeless and historically informed performance of one of history´s musical landmarks!
The art of fugue is almost entirely for one keyboard instrument, and so would undoubtedly have been performed by Bach and others in his circle. The open score notation was traditional for some keyboard music, being used by Frescobaldi and Froberger among others, and by Bach in one manuscript of the six part ricercar from the Musical Offering. It is the fitting of the music under the fingers of two hands which demonstrates that this is keyboard music. Of course I agree with your description "the most divine of musical minds of all time."
Casually throwing one of the best interpretations of the B minor mass out there, why not 😀
They also have I think one of the best version of Johannes Passion! :)
@@cristianbranea5034 Thank you. I will have a look. Cheers from Australia.
Strange as it may seem, there is a group of diehard adversaries of this type of performance on You Tube. Some of them qualify all the Historical Informed Performance interpreters as hypocrites. Moreover, they refuse to accept how the placement of Bach's music on a historical perspective has brought new knowledge about this composer and artistic achievements of great value for his music.
@@Astor962 yes, 43 dislikes at the moment - it may not be quite to their taste, but they surely can't dislike such wonderful music.
@@stephenlee1756 I would like to see the dislike checks coded so they would not register unless accompanied with a reason for the dislike. That would separate legitimate criticism from those not familiar with choral works randomly searching through YT.
Small choir. Baroque instruments. Inspired performance by all. Simply magnificent. Congratulations NBS.
It's kind of funny that historically informed Baroque performances usually reduce the size of the ensemble whereas Bach himself was desperate to get more musicians for his music. The ensembles were small out of necessity, if Bach had been the one to decide he probably would have crammed as many musicians into the orchestra as possible. He would have been amazed by the Romantic interpretations that are so despised today.
@@hansmahr8627 Debatable.
@@hansmahr8627 I think that if Bach had larger ensembles he would have changed his style of composition. That being said, i agree that he would have been happy to have the resources. The scale here seems near perfect to me.
@@hansmahr8627 never ever ... just read the respective publications by Andrew Parrott and others about these topics !!!
@Мамонт the only split that counts as its own part is sopranos here, every other part is just 3 for both II’s and I’s, I’m guessing the soloists take the I’s and ripienists the II’s?
I just came across this astounding performance. It has saved me from drowning in the dark waters of this hellish year. I am a conductor who has been deprived of live music since the spring that never came. This sublime performance (perhaps the finest I have ever heard) has helped to beat back the despair and deprivation that still hovers over us all. That such beauty even exists in this world is the greatest of wonders!
I can't stop listening. This is my third round - I too came across this yesterday. Saved from drowning in the dark indeed.
th-cam.com/video/LKM3HsMZuOs/w-d-xo.html
This music helps me to understand the grandeur of our lifes. Yes, big words, but in a smaller scale it also fits in completely.
Bach knew we would need this stuff. Convinced.
Without a doubt! The deprevation you experienced is brought to enlightenment by this rendition ❤️
That man who sang alto had a seriously angelic voice. Worthy of Bach for sure.
The Agnus Dei is achingly beautiful - qui tollis peccata mundi , miserere nobis - sung with haunting intensity and compassion
@@gwedielwch That's a countertenor, by the way. And the Crucifixus is heart-wrenchingly beautiful as well.
David Erler. Wonderful interpretation.
I don't think I've ever heard a more moving combination of really flawless solo performances, inspired collaboration of individual instrumentalists with the soloists, and the orchestral and choral forces. This performance approaches perfection at every level and in every way.
@Thomas Snyder I absolutely agree.
I am blown away (no pun intended) by the horn player in Quoniam tu solus sanctus (45:50).
th-cam.com/video/LKM3HsMZuOs/w-d-xo.html
This version is indeed also one of my favorites, but one can also look into several excellent versions by Philippe Herreweghe, in particular the Collegium Vocale version here: th-cam.com/video/AQ2ndpcOM58/w-d-xo.html . Not claiming it is better, just also magnificient 🙂
@cw8215 Absolutely. The Gardiner's sound engineers were not even close to those of this recording.
This is the best live recorded Mass in B minor I've ever heard. The audio engineer is a genius.
Sublime !!! In my opinion, Baroque was and is the pinnacle of all musical eras !! The complexity and perfection is just beyond the world !!!
Yes! And Bach is the pinnacle of the baroque era in music...
@@georgesmelki1 👍👍
As a singer, I love the Baroque era. The genius of that era was in making all instruments and voices shine. But this is a masterpiece, undoubtedly.
this opening is defenetly the most majestic one of all classical pieces. It's amazing, unbelievable how only one human being could write this
@JACOB H Well, actually he wrote the Kyrie and Gloria movements many years before his final eye problems.
If I could have written those opening 4 bars, I'd die happy.
Interesting that Netherlands is such a strong force in the classical music world. Quality never gets old.
Die Niederländer leben ihren christlichen Glauben in der Kunst und in der Musik und erst danach in ihrer Gesellschaft selbst und durch die Kunst und Musik erleben sie ihren Glauben damit und in ihr gesellschaftlich.
What would my 2020 look like without finding Netherlands Bach Society? Isolated working from home, such beauty has soothed me through this difficult year. So much talent in this group. From the soloists to the regulars who seem to inhabit every performance. I seem to know many of their idiosyncrasies, and even glimpses of their personalities. My favorite TH-cam channel by far.
Don’t believe in God? Explain Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart, Scarlatti...and on and on.
They are his gift to mankind. Just listen and give thanks.
And what about 2021 ?
My sentiments exactly! As a choralist myself, this spectacular group and performance made my 2020 (and life) better.
@@lc9464 Possibly 2021-Covid is a rebuke from a loving God who wants us all to repent, to forgive those who have hurt us, and strive to ask for God's help to amend our lives.
Hang in there David. It will pass. Bach is surely medicine for the spirits.
In the midst of the corona virus pandemic, being one of the people who can't stop working because my line of work is deemed as essential, my mental health is suffering.
Thank you for this! Thank you so much! This is helping, tremendously!
Hope everything works out for you? are you a doctor?
@@LachlanTyrrell2003 No. Lawyer, working for a bank, trying to find a way to keep interest rates low and helping people with their loans. The government ordered us to stay open.
Self care and a nice bear hug--one to another. Jonny is doing nothing less. A voice from the dust and "out of time." It's a love letter that took stubborn faith. "Hannes" (German for Johnny) just kept writing the notes down. He never had anything close to these resources to *physically* hear those ms-ed notes. Now look at you, JSB!!
Lastly, I once sang bass in a Mozart Kyrie. Performance was in a week. At penultimate rehearsal the German woman conductor stopped us in the middle..looking frustrated and being visibly disgusted. I quote: "People do you not get this?!! A Kyrie is a 911 call to heaven. You are desperate. You look up and demand: 'have mercy and help me dammit!' " Indeed.
Another group of homo sapiens who gives this inspiringly collected+killer passionate 911 call their all is John Elliot Gardener et al. It's here on YT, easy to find. And incredibly filmed. Brit BBC quality.
NO social distance here, Mark from AZ living in Slc Utah in an almost surreal voluntary lockdown. I have not seen or heard a car come by all day on this Sunday in March 2020.
I REMEMBER THAT I WAS LAST YEAR IN THE HOSPITAL FOR MAOR SURGERY AND THE B MASS WAS PLAYING ON THE I PHONE RADIO, AND IT WAS A GREAT RELIEF BEING IN THE HOSPITAL AND BEING TRANSPORTED TO ANOTHER PLACE BY THIS MUSIC. I WAS VERY THANKFUL. THE OTHER MAN IN MY HOSPITAL ROOM HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA ABOUT THIS MUSIC AND HE POLITELY TOOK A LONG WALK THROUGH THE CORRIDORS OF THE HOSPITAL. HE WAS 70 YEARS OLD AND TOLE ME THAT HE LIKED ELVIS PRESELY, AND HE CAME FROM EL ESCORIAL, SPAIN. A GREAT CENTER OF HISORICAL MUSIC HERE.
Prayers
Bach is officially my favorite composer, my favorite artist, my favorite everything in music.
In the Netherlands Bach Society gave a superb performance and audio rendering here.
Bach is the sum of excellence...if only equaled.
then you must remember Chopin and put him right next to Bach in your library and in your heart.
I make no apologies for repeating that our World is so much richer because it was visited by Johann Sebastian Bach. I feel compelled to reiterate how these wonderful interpreters of his uplifting musical magic sound fresh to me, irrespective of how many times I listen to their awe-inspiring performances. Their originally interpreted, beautiful version of this magnificent Mass brings tears of joy to my eyes - and takes me to where I feel to be Heaven on Earth.
Wonderful performance of yet another of the many musical miracles by the Master - which I simply cannot get enough of. I feel that the NBS rehearse every phrase until it simply cannot be further improved - thus culminating in performances which are about as close to perfection as what a group of Earthlings can hope to achieve.
Many thanks to the Netherlands Bach Society of musical geniuses and most excellent interpreters of maestro Bach.
I absolutely love your performances.
the Great Bach
Thanks to Bach, I am still able to listen to Music
Yes, and Bach did not burst into being in a vacuum. Yet from his emerging he siphon the filtered stimuli he encóuntered weaving, distilling a purest flavoured liquor appealing to the faintest and most overwhelming urges of the heart and mind.
Such excellence & beauty can only become in a free society 💗
"...because it was visited by Johann Sebastian Bach..." ? Not exactly, sir.
"Because Johann Sebastian Bach was visited by God" seems more appropriate.
The countertenor who sings the "Agnus Dei" in this master work, along with the incredible orchestra backing him up, brought tears to my eyes. Exquisite.
I had the good fortune to sing the B minor twice in my life (nobody special, just in the chorus). I'm 71 and those two occasions remain among the few great high points of my life. Thank you Bachvereniging for your wonderful work in making Bach so richly available to all of us.
It is encouraging that this has had so many views. I fear that what I see as world of trivialities, instant gratification and superficiality, fewer and fewer people take the time to listen to Classical music. I am not dismissing popular culture, merely wish that people would extend their horizons.
It's ok to dismiss popular culture. Popular culture regularly dismisses itself.
I believe this is the most beautiful piece of music ever written.
THERE ARE MORE THAN ONE MOST BEAUTIFUL PIECE EVER WRITTEN, MORE THAN ONE BEAUTIFUL MAN OR WOMAN OR ONE BEAUTIFUL ANIMAL,, OR FLOWER. OUR WORLD HAS LOTS OF BEAUTIFIES EVEN THOUGH THE TIMES ARE NOW UGLY.
@@ronwalker4849 This one is pretty good though, but how about some suggestions of what you think are this good or better - I love discovering new pieces!
@@kevinvos430 Eroica
From the inspired mind of a genius composer JSB to the humble ears of this plantation worker I can only say "Thank you". Superb presentation and performance by all. (From the tiny kingdom of Tonga - 2023)
I am happy to see Bach is recognized outside europe ❤
And your heart is humble as well
What a performance! Hearing the Mass without an oversized orchestra/choir and the souped-up romanticism we're used to makes you realise how this stands at the pinnacle of Bach's work and genius.
Abolutely agree, Elliot! By the way, I kindly recommend the appreciation of the work of a living classical composer dedicated mostly to sacred music. I feel myself like a sort of non-official ambassador for his music - and, effectively, also one of his few supporters. He is very, very talented. You won't be disappointed. th-cam.com/users/WFerdinand
th-cam.com/video/LKM3HsMZuOs/w-d-xo.html
As he intended.
The intimate size and gathering makes this performance that much more enjoyable. Fantastic point.
Absolutely. In addition I love the original instruments, the restrained use of vibrato in the strings, and especially in the soloists This is as perfect as it gets.
This is so extremely beautiful
Yep!
just so
Amazing that this video currently has 3.7 million views! Good to know 700K people listened to it, since 3M of those views are from me personally.
Never has the final chorus, "Dona Nobis Pacem" been as meaningful in this world pandemic. Grant us peace, and Happy Easter!
Agree. This are true prophetic times. Fortunately peace has been granted to us at Easter by the sacrifice of Jesus. We seem to have been halted to pay attention to just that.
Not sure about that. The end of the Spanish Flu or the ends of two World Wars might be more significant.
The Mass in B Minor...mankind's greatest artistic achievement.
What about The Art of Fugue?😂
I would say Beethoven's 9th
@@christopherpederson1021 well, pretty much any masterpiece could be considered the greatest artistic achievement
@@christopherpederson1021 Not even Beethoven's finest composition.
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1896): "I always find Beethoven's C Minor concerto (the Third Piano Concerto) much smaller and weaker than Mozart's. . . . I realize that Beethoven's new personality and his new vision, which people recognized in his works, made him the greater composer in their minds. But after fifty years, our views need more perspective. One must be able to distinguish between the charm that comes from newness and the value that is intrinsic to a work. I admit that Beethoven's concerto is more modern, but not more significant!
I also realize that Beethoven's First Symphony made a strong impression on people. That's the nature of a new vision. But the last three Mozart symphonies are far more significant. . . . Yes, the Rasumovsky quartets, the later symphonies-these inhabit a significant new world, one already hinted at in his Second Symphony. But what is much weaker in Beethoven compared to Mozart, and especially compared to Sebastian Bach, is the use of dissonance. Dissonance, true dissonance as Mozart used it, is not to be found in Beethoven. Look at Idomeneo. Not only is it a marvel, but as Mozart was still quite young and brash when he wrote it, it was a completely new thing. What marvelous dissonance! What harmony! You couldn't commission great music from Beethoven since he created only lesser works on commission-his more conventional pieces, his variations and the like. When Haydn or Mozart wrote on commission, it was the same as their other works."
( Composers On Music: Eight Centuries of Writings
, Josiah Fisk, Jeff Nichols, Technical Group Leader High Performance Computational Chemistry Group Jeff Nichols | p.134~135 )
Perhaps the highest masterpiece in all western classical music. Superb interpretation.
Not only in the western classical music, just in all the eras of human mankind of music.
This, and The Art of Fugue! There's a pretty high place for Handel's Messiah as well! Perhaps Western civilization did not equal them again in any art until Tolkien!
I love Beethoven, especially late Beethoven, but I keep coming back to Bach and Messiah!
...perhaps?
NO WAY!!! That's ridiculous. From an artists point of view terrible. Bach is not able to capture the beauty of the truth... Jesus... with this music... never
@@thomasstock2726... Thomas, I resort to name-calling only for people who are too stupid to understand anything else: you hapless, halfwitted, idiotic, cretin.
a dozen singers here sound like fifty in their intensity.
A word of praise and gratitude to the camera work --- enhances the excitement immeasurably throughout the performance. Wonderful altogether. This Mass is not a piece of music -- it's a whole country to explore afresh over and over.
Genau so!
when you realize that everything was build around ONE FUNDANENTAL THEME though it is endlessly complex and beautiful.
The greatest piece of music ever written, bar none. Bar none.
How am I supposed to listen to anything else after hearing this glorious interpretation?
This is also what I exactly thought. And yet Händel's Messiah and Israel in Egypt, Haydn's Nelson Mass, Mozart's Mass in C Minor and his Requiem didn't disappoint me at all. Even though Bach's masterpiece is untouchable... but that's also because he "cheated" choosing here a number of his most beautiful cantata movements. Who knows whether he included some of them while thinking about this, or not, but it is undoubtedly the best musical gift anyone has ever made to us! At least to me.
@@mirko9072 Well, placing the Nelson Mass anywhere close to the company of the other works you mentioned is odd, its nowhere close to their league, let alone of the other Bach masterpieces that you have omitted. There are dozens of great choral works in the baroque and classical repertoire but Bach's works deserve to be appraised at a totally different level to the Nelson Mass, don't you agree with no 'cheating' qualifications? Reading your comment again, I even wonder if you have even ever listened carefully to Bach's passions...
Hey, I’m relatively new to Bach (a few months) and have been listening to his passions. How are you supposed to listen to the whole thing though? A large majority of it is made up of recitatives and very short pieces of music. I’ve only really listened to the first movements so far.
@@LachlanTyrrell2003 If you're listening to the Passions, I'd recommend getting a copy of the libretto with an English translation (or the sheet music would be even better) and following along as the story unfolds. For the Mass in B minor, I'd take a similar approach, but remember that this is the liturgy that would be happening in the context of a worship service.
@@sorim1967 Many years ago I had Nelson Mass played by Colin Davis, on LP. Wordless. I'm very sad because I' ve no longer
This opening makes me cry every time, breathtaking
Transcendent!
I recall Rick Beato mentioning the Netherlands Bach Society as maintaining Bach music in all its original glory. Glad to partake of these delights.
So did I !!! Rick Beato knows about the good things in music!
@@thegolgatha5337 👍 He sure does. Both Western popular and classical music tradition.
Another Rick Beato fan here. I'm here in April 2023 because Iain McGilchrist mentioned this piece of music.
@@sarahwalkerbeach6985 That's cool. Expertly-performed music always gets a good recommendation.
What a beautiful gift to us during this pandemic when we don't see the beauty
I am also happy about the fact that such a relatively small ensemble can make music with such a huge impact. Sometimes it is not needed orchestras with 100 persons and a choir also with 100 singers. For me this is the perfect ensamble for this music. This music is, and will always be, wonderful.
I'm still amazed that Richter was able to keep such large orchestras together and make such wonderful recordings. Maybe a German trait
@@mozgren Yes, I´m also impressed by the way Carl Richter treats this music with this big orchestra and choir. And let me say this is the first moment I listen to this! I am just an amateur. So thank you for introducing me to Carl Richters world.
Look at how the two sopranists smile at each other at 11:07. Just beautiful to watch how connecting that music is and what joy they feel making such beautiful music together.
The magic of Bach is a given, but the NBS performances are revelatory. Watching these performances is a great support at this time of lockdown. Admiration and gratitude to the NBS.
Perhaps greater than the performances of Bach's time, this may be the greatest performance of all time.
I am in tears right now. How have I never spent the time to listen to this masterpiece before? I am not new to Bach by any stretch of the imagination, but from the first few seconds I got chills. It reminds me of my recently deceased grandparents (of which some events still haunt my dreams and cause nights full of crying and regret, even 6 months after they passed away). I have never had a piece or work bring that feeling up though. I cannot do anything but admire and shiver as I hear this unimaginably powerful music. I am really not sure what to say, Bach has surprised me yet again!
I feel similarly. Mr Bach can hold my every emotion - it's miraculous!!!!🐦
May there be blessings on both Rebekah (below) and you - and many others in this situation.
I too am at a loss to explain how I did not discover this sooner. At age 67 now, my touchstone since age 16 has been the Brandenburg concertos. This B minor mass is a revelation and of its sublime mysteries I will never tire. I am so grateful to the NBS for all their angelic efforts.
I am from New Zealand. I believe this project is easily the most constructive way that any government in the world can spend its funds.
Heya wow, so nice to hear you are watching the channel from the other side of the world! The 'All of Bach' project however, is entirely funded by people's donations and not by governmental money.
Wasn't expecting to see anything like this behemoth of a masterpiece in my subscription list this morning.
The recording quality is exceptional, and the music itself is extremely authentic and convincing. Not even 5 minutes in and it's already certainly in my top three recordings of the B minor. I certainly know what I'm spending my evening doing when I get home from work.
What are the other 2 ?
And the other two? I.want to learn
@@valentincolasMangeon I think one them might be Karl Richter's interpretation
Garrett, we're all still waiting for a reply a year later - I too am longing to know what the other 2 are!!!
@@elizabethcartwright7633 Returning to this masterpiece today and I notice this comment chain. Long wait I know!
My top three:
1) This very recording by the Netherlands Bach Society
2) Karl Richter's 1969 recording. @MattiaFormichetti was correct
3) Gardiner's recent 2015 recording.
An utterly incredible performance. The skill and quality of the musicians, the superb balance, and the inspired tempi come together to make what is arguably the best performance of the B-minor mass on TH-cam (for which there is significant competition). If you've ever sung the mass, you also know how much of a bear it can be and these performers absolutely smashed it.
Great thanks to the Netherlands Bach Society for putting this on TH-cam. Very few groups can truly do justice to this incredible piece, but the Netherlands Bach Society has more than met the task. We are all very lucky to have such incredible performers providing this great cultural service.
Yes, I think some of the best performances (if not the bests) come from Netherlands Bach Society.
The opening Kyrie eleison must be one of the most demanding, for the first note sung by the soloists and everyone.
I have sung it (bass in chorus). Yes, it's the most challenging thing I've ever sung. And this chorus and orchestra performed flawlessly!
The most beautiful and powerful music ever created. Thank God for Bach!
You know something is GOOD when you have goosebumps from head to toe during the entire performance.
That second Kyrie is nothing short of perfection both in composition and performance. wow!
Confession: I have been listening to this daily for about 2 months now, and also listening to his earlier masses and enjoying Bach's journey to the perfection of this work. Trial and error with every ingredient of art and viola. Being a poet of sorts and living with a consummate artist, creativity is a magical journey. Thank you, Bach.
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@@peterburandt4586 Thank you, Peter.
@@EagleEye-vm9gf very glad you enjoyed this performance. I don't think this ensemble is getting enough exposure and I'm trying to help change that.
@@peterburandt4586 Indeed a powerful performance of a great masterpiece. I am in awe of the great composers.
Every morning Et in terra pax. How wonderful beautiful start for the day.
I have heard this masterpiece many times, even played continuo in it, still tears burst out on this absolutely gorgeous rendition of Agnus Dei. What would I have done without Bach in my life!....
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Yes !!!!
What would I have done……you‘re so right with your words !
When you say continuo, did you play the harpsichord?
@@Shreksbigfattoeyo harpsichord and organ alternatively
How difficult it is to acknowledge that humanity is both able to burn our Planet and produce pieces of such absolute beauty....
Bach's sublime mass was written over two decades.
By 2030, we will need 2 planets. 20:30
The vocal textures are incredibly beautiful!
“I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music.”
Quote attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach
Musical composition written by one of the greatest classical music composers of all time.
Thank you, Netherlands Bach Society, for posting this. For five years, my wife and I lived on a hill above the beautiful carillon tower situated on the grounds of the Iwo Jima Memorial. The carillon, generously donated to the people of the United States by the people of the Netherlands, was near enough our apartment that we could hear its chimes. I came to treasure the pure, musical tones as a peak experience from those years. Thanks to the Society, I've just added a new peak experience of shivers and thrills from this superb recording.
Concerning the small number of voices, my experience in one of the choirs in which I've sung over the years prompts me to offer a comment. During my college years, I sang tenor in my university's touring choral group, "The Collegians." We were eighteen in number---four tenors, four sopranos, four altos and six basses. Our conductor, the late Gerald Ferguson, had made a side-study of physics. The first day of rehearsal he explained why he had limited membership to only eighteen voices when the previous conductor had admitted as many as fifty singers some years. Mr. Ferguson told us that, the larger the chorus, the greater the relative loss of some of the volume due to interference between the physical sound waves produced by voices singing at different amplitudes---that is, different volumes or levels of loudness.
Professor Ferguson showed us graphs of sound waves illustrating how differing wave amplitudes interfered with each other to cancel part of the total volume produced. In essence, volume is a self-limiting characteristic governed by the number of sources. In choruses this means the more voices, the greater the percentage fall-off from the volume that would, in theory, be reached if all voices could sing together in perfect unison (synchronization). Putting it another way, in a choir, each singer's small deviations from the ideal of everyone singing in perfect unison contribute to a total interference that will reduce the volume produced by more than a hundred singers to that produced by eighteen singers of equal ability. Professor Ferguson arrived at these numbers with the help of a fellow faculty member teaching in the university's physics department. As intuition would suggest, our smaller group was able to initiate and release notes in synch with each other, and enunciate lyrics with greater precision than is humanly possible with a large chorus.
That this greater precision made a significant contribution to our volume is supported by a newspaper review of a concert by the Collegians. Shortly before Christmas in 1968, we had performed an excerpted "Messiah" in the civic auditorium of the city of St. Joseph, Michigan. We were accompanied by the Twin Cities Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Hendrik Deblij. The next morning came a review of our performance by Noel Gersonde, music critic of the Herald Palladium, a newspaper with subscribers throughout Southwest Michigan since the early 1800s. Gersonde said the following in his review, which I treasured enough to cut from the newspaper. From my yellowed and brittle clipping, here is an excerpt (italics mine):
"The old adage about strength being found in numbers cannot be applied to the Collegians. _Only eighteen in number, they sounded like a group ten times that size,_ yet maintained every detail of quality from the enunciation of words to artistry in performing this difficult music. . . .This group, small as they are, _pronounced each word so distinctly_ and sang each note with such warmth and understanding one came away with a feeling of great awe, both for them and for the music. The director, Gerald Ferguson deserves a great deal of credit for training such a superior group. . . ."
With such a glowing review, I happily overlook the connotation of surprise in Gersonde's wording, no doubt unintentional, that our precise enunciation suggested an inverse relationship of chorus size to clarity of pronunciation. That is, after all, the other great gain from performances of small choruses, as this wonderful video of Bach's great masterpiece demonstrates with this magnificent performance. While it's my opinion that performances of sacred choruses---for example, in the Messiah---too often drag out the tempo, I agree that the pace in this performance of Bach's choral masterpiece was spot on, as best served the music's magisterial message and purpose.
thanks for this story
This is the most interesting TH-cam comment I've ever read.
@@pedrodiniz92 Thank you, Mr Diniz. Your kindness is a virtue I admire as few others and for which I am most grateful.
@@xantochroi You are welcome. I appreciate your courtesy and the pleasure you've given me at knowing it found favor with you.
That was a fascinating read. There is something powerful in the idea of a modern understanding of physics bettering our enjoyment of such old and timeless beauty.
I could hardly believe what I just listened to… your audience will be eternally grateful for your bringing these works to unsurpassable divinity.
I'm working on an incredibly stressful, time sensitive project without much sleep today. The peace your beautiful performances of Bach are giving me is literally keeping me from tears. Thank you so much.
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Bless you - God have mercy on and kindness for us all.
Heavenly. Bach is the Master - and liturgical music is the greatest glory of European choral culture. I am a classical composer dedicated to church music, and I hope, with my works, to bring people closer to the divine, the beauty, the consolation.
W. Ferdinand I long to meet people like you one day
@@louisnweke5431 I'm pleased to meet you. Please subscribe to my channel. I will upload one of my motets soon.
Godspeed your work.
@@bobtaylor170 Thank you very much!
Bravo, W. Ferdinand. I have a similar goal for the novel I am drafting now, possibly my last, after a career that began in 1976 when Doubleday published my second novel (the manuscript of the first rests in my office closet, never to be published, cherished only by me for drawing encouraging letters from two editors who didn't buy it, one at Putnam and the other at Doubleday, to whom I sold the second.
I don't know if you would agree but, after going "all in" to a fundamentalist version of Christianity as a kid, then leaving it behind, except in memory, I have come to understood how valiantly people struggle to believe in both an omnipotent and a loving god.
Novels that preach are nearly always dead on arrival and, anyway, I had more than enough of preaching as a kid who actually listened. This novel, like those published before it, will be what New York publishing calls a "thriller," and that is exactly what I want and intend to write. As readers experience the novel by slipping inside the characters I've provided and animating them with their own unique view on life, if, along the way, new ways to think about God occur to a reader, and those ways make loving their God easier, I would, of course, not be unhappy.
And how WONDERFUL to bring back the harpsichord continuo, which has been sorely missed in this kind of work since the prevailing fashion for organ continuo took over.
Ah, but the organ is there as well.
Probably the greatest opening to any piece of music in history
I love the way so many musicians are allowed their part in the limelight as soloists.
We sang this at Memorial Church, Harvard, conducted by John Ferris, and it would have been the Fall Semester 1968 or the Spring Semester, 1969, I believe. In the church. How extraordinarily fortunate we were to be able to do this. The Netherlands Bach Society is superb, beautiful beyond words. Thank you! And, in these troubled times, we do need this inspiration. Praying for the world.
When I watch this video it's tough to wrap my head around that this is these musician's job. This is what they do. They perform this music. I hope they know how lucky they are and how much all of their hard work has paid off. Just magnificent.
I’ve been a Bach fan since I was a teenager. I’ve tried the B minor Mass a few times since I was young and it never really clicked for me. Now at 35 I tried again about 2 weeks ago and somehow it was like a revelation. I’m now completely obsessed and am wondering what on earth I was thinking all these years. This is the greatest music I have ever heard. This performance being one of the best I have found so far.
Sometimes you just have to grow into it. I always liked the B minor Mass (well, once I heard it on period instruments), but when I was a teen I found the Passions really dull. Took me until my 30s to appreciate them properly.
@MW nyc totally agree! I grew up loving the B minor mass but didn't care much for the Passions untill I watched a live performance of St. John at the annual Carmel Bach festival. Incredible.
Who's the recording engineer?.... the audio here is simply phenomenal , sincere thanks !
Yeah, getting good sound from so many instruments and singers doesn’t seem like an easy task.
Hello, It's me, thank you for the compliments!
And of course my increadible team!!
@@guidotichelman8597 Commendations to you and your team-- amazing job! The best sound I've ever heard on a live recording like this!
Yeah, I was wondering the same when I realized that I practically never heard anything the two harpsichord players played. Those mixing engineers...
The first chord opened up and with it was brought a swarm of emotion describable only in music. B Minor is historically a key signature that represents a calm patience for God and His divine plan. In such a painfully dissonant world, I can feel the calming reassurance of the divine Hand's movement bringing rest as this piece's every chord rings out. Hundreds of years after this was composed, it still brings with it more truth and beauty than I could have thought possible in music. Much thanks to Bach for bringing us such reassurance and thanks, as well, to the Netherlands Bach Society for preforming it for us. Praise be to God for not leaving us in this life.
Although I don't believe in God, I can precisely relate to what you have said regarding this masterpiece, especially about the opening. There is something out of this world in this music.
I hope u believe God and His divine plan includes every person being redeemed ultimately and billions wont suffer eternal torment the thought of which makes any divinely inspired composition a nightmare.Jesus IS the SAVIOR of the WORLD not part of the world.
@@kloug2006 There most certainly is. Music just speaks to us in a way nothing else really can.
I have been listening to this almost daily as I sit working in near-isolation in my New York apartment during this pandemic. It offers such beauty and such hope. Thank you Bach, thank you the Netherlands Bach Society. God bless the human spirit, the human capacity for creativity, and the power of musical collaboration. It offers us much-needed uplift in these tough times.
The music of Agnus Dei is so beautiful and heartbreaking, it brings me to tears.
After listening to this more than 200 times and learning to appreciate, I come to the conclusion that this performance is the epitome of moderation, i,e., everything fits perfectly. I can not think anything can be added, or altered, or subtracted to improve it. Thanks, NBS.
The precision, the musicality, the blend, the expressiveness of this performance is superb!
In addition, great cameraman/director and sound engineer. Bravo for everyone who participated.
On this Palm Sunday, listening to Bach and this marvelous choir and orchestra I am grateful that I can worship by listening to this sublime work.
This will never be anything other than the best musical piece of all time. I've never tired of listening to or performing it.
Absolutely one of the greatest masterpiece of all time in music history.. My dearest respect to NBS, phenomenal!
Is nobody going to talk about the amazing vocal virtuosity from 51:31 to 52:15 ?
As well as the Cellist :-)
Cum Sancto Spiritu is perfect and moment later "free" like jam session.
Right at the start, when the drone glides to the church and the sun is setting, and the choir sing these few first notes... such a goosebump moment! And the brilliant timing, that the singing stops when the sun disappears behind the church tower! Thank you NBS
Some of Bach's greatest compositions were written in Leipzig. The Mass in B minor, The St John and St Matthew Passions, Art of the Fugue, the giant B, E and C minor organ Prelude and Fugues, the numerous Cantatas. Leipzig is where Bach reached peak spiritual and technical depth in his compositions.
A night of Bach while studying Spanish grammar. Two gifts of TH-cam.
Wow! Original instruments in a few cases (wood transverse flutes, natural horns in the brass section) without even mentioning it and, rather than being a “look at me” distraction, the sound and internal balance is just perfect. I’ve been a part of this piece before and heard several, and this at or near the top. Such a relatively small choir and yet they can sound oceanic as required. Excellent, expressive, committed soloists. Well done!
Comme Jean-Sébastien Bach doit être heureux de voir et d'entendre Sa Messe en Si si justement interprétée. Quelle belle prière d'une heure trois quarts! Chaleureux merci à tous les musiciens et choristes, solistes ainsi qu'à vous leur Directeur, Monsieur Van Veldhoven.
What a performance of one of the greatest compositions of all time! I love this channel! Although all contributions are outstanding, I would like make special mention of the beautifully gentle tone of the tenor, the strength/depth of the alto, the sweetness of the flutes, the brave tone of the horn, the gutsy abandon of the bassoons, not to mention the exceptional qualities of the solo bass and sopranos, the ensemble work of the choir, the heavenly trumpets... the list of praise is endless!
Yes, exactly. It’s the sum of all of these excellences that make Van Veldhoven’s performance so affecting. I also love how all the soloists are so “out of the book.” This did not happen by accident! Really beautifully directed for television. Yes, beautiful profile shots and not just deadly flat-on shots. Can I hug Jos van Veldhoven?
This is right up there with the most powerful music ever written
Every release on this channel has been amazing. I have always admired Bach. However, as I get older I am totally amazed how truly great he is. His genius towers over every other composer. The work of the NBS does this genius full justice.
Did you notice that many of the instruments used in this video are ancient ones , the same as used in Bachs' time. Amazing.
The world is such a crazy thing. I keep wondering why people would dislike such a heavenly masterpiece and the superb interpretation from these musicians and singers. There really must be something wrong with humanity.
the ratio is dislike EXTEMELY low though. There are not many people on the world (at the moment) acknowledging his genius. So that people who explicitly searching for this piece are absolutely overwhelmed by it.
You really expect from a fly to like anything else than shit?
one of the greatest religious music in the human history!
You can remove the term 'religious', it is as true !
I know it’s a cliche to refer to big, important works of art as “monumental,” “towering,” “earth-shattering,” and other superlatives. But this one earns it. A life’s work, study, and evolution through music in nearly two hours. It’s almost Shakespearean in the way it captures so many human emotions. Elegant, precise, balanced, and as close to perfection in a discipline as one can get. We are all lucky to get to experience this.
That performance was AWESOME! J.S.Bach himself would have been proud of you!
Hands down one of the greatest musical achievements in Western history. Bach's Mass in B Minor transcends the works of all other composers, like the peak of a mountain. No doubt he wished to cement his technique and his legacy by 1749. Excellent performance from the Netherlands Bach Society, full of reverence and poignancy. Well done!
I have just begun studying this piece, and I will explain everything that I have learned after I have completed my studies. See you in 3500 years :)
It might be possible to overlook the Benedictus, followed closely as it is by the Agnus - and with a terrific alto. But it would be a mistake to overlook the quiet brilliance of the flautist. He makes the Benedictus look effortless. I love the way he very slightly lingers at the start of a phrase. It is so lovingly played.
Thank you NBS for this performance. It has soothed my lockdown migraines!
This is perfection! No 'prima donne trying to steel the show' but great, solid soloists who know what Bach music is all about and perform for the love of it. Thank you.
Crystal clear, pure, meditative divine music. The solo voices are incredibly clear, precise and of a rare harmony.
All for the glory of God. What wonderfully inspired music this Bach created.
Van harte gefeliciteerd De Nederlandse Bachvereniging
Hoop dat we nog heel lang van jullie prachtige uitvoeringen mogen genieten, dat maakt het leven aangenaam.
I can see the musicians smile during some of the pieces. They seem to be as delighted by what they're doing as i am.
What an extraordinary job NBS. I appreciate what you do for our benefit. Thanks a lot from Mexico