Hampshire Choral Society Spring Semester

Resources for J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor
Choral Learning Files (MIDI)
Introduction to MIDI from Cyberbass
Choral Learning Files (MP3)
Berkshire Choral Festival Learning Files (MP3)
Introduction to Passaggio with Dr. Mary Brown Bonacci (MP3)
Introduction to Breath Support with Sudie Marcuse (MP3)
Introduction to Vowel Formation with Dr. Mary Brown Bonacci (MP3)
Note: a chart similar to the one Dr. Bonacci refers to in the above recording may be found here.

New Rehearsal Location:
Northampton Senior Center
67 Conz Street, Northampton, MA
ABOUT THE B-MINOR MASS:
In 1745, the influential critic Johann Adolph Scheibe complained that J.S. Bach was not in the first rank of German composers. Bach’s music might be truly great "if he had more amenity, if he did not take away the natural element in his pieces by giving them a turgid and confused style, and if he did not darken their beauty by an excess of art."



Perhaps in response, Bach wrote his two final and most intricate works – The Art of the Fugue, and the B-minor Mass. Completed in 1749, the year before his untimely death at the age of 65, Bach intended each to establish his legacy, defend his techniques, and instruct his successors. He was successful; as musicologist Christoph Wolf writes "Like no other work of Bach’s, the B-minor Mass represents a summary of his writing for voice, not only in its variety of styles, compositional devices, and range of sonorities, but also in its high level of technical polish. The Mass offers a full panoply of the art of musical composition, with a breadth and depth betraying not only theoretical perspicacity but also a comprehensive grasp of music history, particularly in its use of old and new styles."

Yet the B-minor is so fiercely difficult and unconventional that it was not performed in its entirety until over 100 years after Bach’s death, and not in the United States until 1900. Under the baton of Allan Taylor, the Hampshire Choral Society will study this masterpiece over an extended semester. Because we anticipate a large turnout for this popular work, we will leave our accustomed rehearsal space, First Churches, Northampton, for the new and spacious Northampton Senior Center, 67 Conz Street, Northampton. Rehearsals begin Tuesday, January 8th at 7:30 PM. New members should arrive at 6:30 PM for a non-threatening audition. The concert will take place on June 15, at John M. Greene Hall, Smith College, Northampton.

For information about area choral events and opportunities, visit www.choralcalendar.org.
 


Dr Henry Mishkin, First Conductor, 1953

Randall Tompson, Fall 1959

Summer Tour of Romania, 1977

Romania Program, 1977