Sunday, April 26, 2026
Tuesday, April 28, 2026    

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B Minor is universally recognized as one of the greatest works of western music. Performances of this work have drawn large audiences for 150 years as people seek to imbibe its profound spirituality and its lofty remove from daily life. The piece has existed on its own pedestal for all this time. But approaching any work of art with too much awe and respect can prevent you from seeing or hearing with is right in front of you. The artwork turns to stone instead of breathing with the life of its creator. The listener feels constricted, required to respond as she imagines people always have. For the artwork itself, standing alone at the top of its field can be a lonely business. Perhaps the moment has come for a bit of pedestal toppling.

Bach himself enjoyed life fully. He enjoyed good food and drink with friends and fathered 20 or more children. For most of his life he was too busy to worry about posterity. Nearly everything he composed was intended for a particular church service or festive public event, heard once and forgotten. True, he left the Mass in B Minor as a testament to his own skill as a composer, but he filled it with music of suffering and delight, doubt and joy, pouring out his deepest feelings about life and faith. If in some of his late works approached mathematical calculation, in the Mass he found a magnificent synthesis of heart and mind. The music is serious, but it is not forbidding; you can listen intently or just let it wash over you. It will work its magic either way.

The Mass in B Minor of Johann Sebastian Bach was last performed by the Portland Symphony Orchestra under then-music director Bruce Hangen in March, 1983.

– Martin Webster