BaL 11.02.17 - Bach: Mass in B minor

[MickyD]

The Mozart recordings were made for the ACCENT label, and licensed to BRILLIANT. ACCENT appears not to have made any recordings since 2009, if their website is up-to-date:

https://web.archive.org/web/20091219144653/http://www.accent-records.com:80/public/news.php

The Bach recordings were made for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, a company whose recordings are now owned by SONY, who don't "licence out" their back catalogues whilst still under copyright.

The Accent website has been woefully out of date for ages - I cannot understand why, as they have for some while been issuing a very tempting stream of new recordings and bargain-boxed collections of their older recordings. It's frustrating as I would like to see a full list of what they have on offer. Typing Accent into the search bar of Amazon does yield a lot of results, but it would be good to see their own site fully updated.

[Pulcinella]

The Accent website has been woefully out of date for ages - I cannot understand why, as they have for some while been issuing a very tempting stream of new recordings and bargain-boxed collections of their older recordings. It's frustrating as I would like to see a full list of what they have on offer. Typing Accent into the search bar of Amazon does yield a lot of results, but it would be good to see their own site fully updated.

Does this link give any better information than what's otherwise available?

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/l/Accent

[vinteuil]

Here's a forthcoming Accent release.

... many thanks for the notification - this is proving to be such a good series. Shall have to clear some more space on the shelves

http://amzn.eu/cVi5iGr

( ... tho' I see from Pulcinella's reference that presto is currently cheaper )

[Richard Barrett]

I don't have my copy of the Parrott handy - I've lost track of who I've leant it to - but IIRC, Parrottt provided striking evidence that OVPP was standard practice at most German churches, Dresden included. The exact questions specifically connected to Dresden and the B minor Mass you raise are covered in one of the chapters in The Essential Bach Choir - I (obviously!) think I've remembered correctly.

OK, I'll take your word for that but I'll look it up when I get home tomorrow evening. I was thinking that the Dresdner Hofkirche might have had a larger vocal ensemble than the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, given that it had a larger orchestra and a princely budget, but I've obviously forgotten what AP had to say about it.

[Nick Armstrong]

please stop littering your posts with SHARP SIGNS, unless you are explaining the key of B minor.

Of course the forum is littered with the # sign (as opposed to the sharp sign): each and every post contains at least one, see top right....

[vinteuil]

Of course the forum is littered with the # sign (as opposed to the sharp sign): each and every post contains at least one, see top right....

... time hanging a bit heavy now you're retired?

[Zucchini]

Of course the forum is littered with the # sign (as opposed to the sharp sign): each and every post contains at least one, see top right....

... time hanging a bit heavy now you're retired?

He says "each and every post contains at least one ..." so we must assume he's telling the truth and has found time to scrutinise all 571,000 of them ...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

He says "each and every post contains at least one ..." so we must assume he's telling the truth and has found time to scrutinise all 571,000 of them ...

No need for any such assumption; look at the right hand side of the red bar at the top of all posts (the one that has "Today, **:**" above your name). It's part of the Forum algorithm. Yours was "#82" on this Thread.

[Nick Armstrong]

... time hanging a bit heavy now you're retired?

He says "each and every post contains at least one ..." so we must assume he's telling the truth and has found time to scrutinise all 571,000 of them ...

[MickyD]

Does this link give any better information than what's otherwise available?

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/l/Accent

Oh yes, it does - thanks very much indeed for that, Pulcinella!

[Pulcinella]

Oh yes, it does - thanks very much indeed for that, Pulcinella!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

OK, I'll take your word for that but I'll look it up when I get home tomorrow evening. I was thinking that the Dresdner Hofkirche might have had a larger vocal ensemble than the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, given that it had a larger orchestra and a princely budget, but I've obviously forgotten what AP had to say about it.

Well, not quite as much information as I had "remembered", the salient comments are on page 84:

... because Bach sent copies of the Kyrie and Gloria (a self-contained "Missa") to Dresden in 1733, it is often argued that performances of the Mass in B minor should be judged by the standards of the Dresden court. There, it is often supposed, such Music would routinely have been sung by a large vocal choir - 16 strong at the very least. In practice, though, the largest recorded number of singers in the Dresden chapel seems to be just eleven.

The evidence behind this "seems" is supplied by Rifkind:

in the Dresden Hofkapelle in 1733 there were no more than 11 singers (3S, 4A, 2T, 2B), and thus a double quintet could have been feasible only if one of the Altos sang a Soprano part.

[Richard Barrett]

in the Dresden Hofkapelle in 1733 there were no more than 11 singers (3S, 4A, 2T, 2B), and thus a double quintet could have been feasible only if one of the Altos sang a Soprano part.

Got it. I guess an alto singing second soprano wouldn't be too much of a stretch at A=415. I'm surprised though that the Dresden court ensemble would be so small, what with it having been such a big and important city at the time. Just goes to show how perceptions of what constitutes "common sense" change over the course of history.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Coming up shortly.

[Beef Oven!]

Coming up shortly.

Tuned-in here!