Darien Library
Bach’s Mass in B-Minor is the Subject of a Talk Thursday by Professor Gil Harel
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On Thursday night at Darien Library, frequent Darien Library lecturer Gil Harel will examine Bach’s Mass in B-Minor, the composer’s final amazing achievement, a testament to his career, with a work that transcends any historical period. — an announcement from Darien Library
Johann Sebastian Bach did not complete his B Minor Mass until 1749, the year before he died. Indeed, that this pietist Lutheran musical juggernaut set the Mass Ordinary in Latin is itself a curiosity that invites closer examination. Scholars have long debated the “why” part of this question, but posterity can only express gratitude that he did. Towering in scope, Bach employed the “parody” technique of repurposing older compositions (something for which G.F. Handel is well known), and supplemented these older reworkings with new movements of exquisite expressivity.