Mass in B minor discography

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The listing shows recordings of the Mass in B minor, BWV 232, by Johann Sebastian Bach. The selection is taken from the 281 recordings listed on the Bach Cantatas Website as of 2018, beginning with the first recording by a symphony orchestra and choir to match, conducted by Albert Coates. Beginning in the late 1960s, historically informed performances paved the way for recordings with smaller groups, boys choirs and ensembles playing period instruments, and eventually to recordings using the one-voice-on-a-vocal-part scoring first argued for by Joshua Rifkin in 1982.

Contents

History

The work was first recorded by symphonic choirs and orchestras. From the late 1960s, historically informed performances (HIP) tried to adhere more to the sounds of the composer's lifetime, who typically wrote for boys choirs and for comparatively small orchestras of Baroque instruments, often now called "period instruments". Some scholars believe that Bach used only one singer for a vocal part in the choral movements, termed "one voice per part" (OVPP). On some of these recordings, the solo singer is reinforced in choral movements with a larger orchestra by a ripieno singer (OVPP+R).

The first complete recording of the work was conducted by Albert Coates in 1929. Robert Shaw led the first American recording in 1947. Some recordings are documents of live concerts, such as a 1968 performance conducted by Karl Richter at the Moscow Conservatory Grand Hall. The same year, the first HIP recording appeared, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, followed by Johan van der Meer's version with the Groningse Bachvereniging in 1975 which was recorded live in Utrecht at the Holland Festival. The first OVPP recording appeared in 1982, conducted by Joshua Rifkin.

Table of selected recordings

The sortable listing is taken from the selection provided by Aryeh Oron on the Bach-Cantatas website.

Soloists Bach composed the work for five soloists: soprano I and II, alto, tenor and bass. The soloists are listed in the table in the order SATB.

Some recordings arranged the music for four soloists, the movements in which soprano II (SII) is requested, are divided, sung by soprano I (SI) and alto (A).

Some recordings divide the two bass solos on two singers because of their very different tessitura:

The composition has a movement for two choirs SATB, Osanna. In recordings with one voice per part (OVPP), the soloists are normally listed in the order SSAATTBB. For some recordings, only the singers doing solo work are named.

Choir type

  1. Large choirs (red background): Large (unspecified), Bach (choir dedicated to Bach's music, founded in the mid-20th century, Boys (choir of all male voices), Radio (choir of a broadcaster), Symphony (choir related to a symphony orchestra)
  2. Medium-size choirs, such as Chamber, Chorale (choir dedicated mostly to church music), Motet
  3. One voice per part (green background): OVPP or OVPP+R (with ripienists reinforcing the soloists in some chorale movements)

Orchestra type

  1. Large orchestras (red background): Bach (orchestra dedicated to Bach's music, founded in the mid-20th century), Radio (symphony orchestra of a broadcaster), Symphony
  2. Chamber orchestra
  3. Orchestra on period instruments (green background)

Table

Recordings of Bach's Mass in B minor, BWV 232
Conductor / Choir / OrchestraSoloistsLabelYearChoir typeOrch. type
Albert Coates [1] HMV1929 (1929)LargeSymphony
Robert Shaw [1]
RCA Victor Chorale
  • Anne McKnight
  • June Gardner
  • Lydia Summers
  • Lucius Metz
  • Paul Matthen
RCA Victor1947 (1947)ChoraleRadio
Hermann Scherchen [2]
Westminster 1950 (1950)ChamberSymphony
George Enescu [2] BBC 1951 (1951)RadioSymphony
Herbert von Karajan [2]
Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien
Orchester der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, Philharmonia Orchestra
EMI 1952 (1952) [lower-alpha 1] LargeSymphony
Fritz Lehmann [2] Urania1953 (1953)RadioRadio
Fritz Werner [2] Erato 1957 (1957)Chamber
Hermann Scherchen [2] Westminster 1959 (1959)ChamberOpera
Robert Shaw [3] RCA Victor Red Seal 1960 (1960)ChoraleSymphony
Karl Richter [3] Archiv Produktion 1961 (1961)BachBach
Otto Klemperer [3] EMI 1967 (1967)RadioSymphony
Nikolaus Harnoncourt [3] Teldec 1968 (1968)Period
Karl Richter [3] Melodiya / Ars Nova1968 (1968)BachBach
Johan van der Meer [4] Teldec 1968 (1968)BachPeriod
Herbert von Karajan [4] Deutsche Grammophon 1974 (1974)LargeSymphony
Helmuth Rilling [4] Hänssler 1977 (1977)ChoraleChamber
Eugen Jochum [5] EMI 1980 (1980)RadioRadio
Joshua Rifkin [5]
The Bach Ensemble
Nonesuch 1982 (1982)OVPPPeriod
Andrew Parrott [5]
EMI 1984 (1984)OVPPPeriod
Gustav Leonhardt [5] Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 1985 (1985)Period
John Eliot Gardiner [5]
Archiv 1985 (1985)Period
Helmut Kahlhöfer [5] Kantorei Barmen-Gemarke1985 (1985)
Robert Shaw [6] [7] Telarc1990 (1990)ChamberSymphony
Georg Solti [6] London 1990 (1990)SymphonySymphony
René Jacobs [6] Berlin Classics1992 (1992)ChamberPeriod
Richard Hickox [6]
Chandos1992 (1992)Period
Karl-Friedrich Beringer [6] Hänssler 1994 (1994)BoysChamber
Ton Koopman [6] Erato 1994 (1994)Period
Carlo Maria Giulini [6]
Sony 1994 (1994)RadioRadio
Philippe Herreweghe [6] Harmonia Mundi 1996 (1996)Period
Robert King [6]
  • Boy sopranos: Matthias Ritter, Manuel Mrasek
  • Boy altos: Matthias Schloderer, Maximilian Fraas
  • Anthony Rolfe-Johnson
  • Michael George
Hyperion 1996 (1996)BoysPeriod
Thomas Hengelbrock [6]
Harmonia Mundi 1996 (1996)Period
Greg Funfgeld [6]
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem
The Bach Festival Orchestra
  • Tamara Matthews
  • Rosa Lamoreaux
  • Marietta Simpson
  • Frederick Urrey
  • William Sharp
  • Daniel Lichti
Dorian Recordings1997 (1997)BachBach
Joshard Daus [6] Arte Nova1998 (1998)
Helmuth Rilling [6] Hänssler 1999 (1999)ChoraleChamber
Georg Christoph Biller [8] Naxos 2000 (2000)BoysSymphony
Sigiswald Kuijken [8] Urtext2000 (2000)OVPPPeriod
Konrad Junghänel [8] Harmonia Mundi 2003 (2003)OVPPPeriod
Frieder Bernius [8] Carus-Verlag 2004 (2004)ChamberPeriod
Helmuth Rilling [8] Hänssler 2007 (2007)ChoraleChamber
Masaaki Suzuki [8] BIS 2007 (2007)Period
Sigiswald Kuijken [8] Challenge Classics2008 (2008)OVPPPeriod
Frans Brüggen [8] Glossa2009 (2009)Period
Jos van Veldhoven [8] Channel Classics Records 2009 (2009)OVPP+RPeriod
Marc Minkowski [8]
Naïve2009 (2009)OVPP+RPeriod
John Butt [8]
Dunedin Consort
Dunedin Players
  • Susan Hamilton
  • Cecilia Osmond
  • Margot Oitzinger
  • Thomas Hobbs
  • Matthew Brook
    • ripienists:
  • Nicola Corbishley
  • Katie Tretheway
  • Annemieke Cantor
  • Christopher Watson
  • Christopher Adams
Linn2009 (2009)OVPP+RPeriod
Georg Christoph Biller [9]
ACCENTUS Music2013 (2013)BoysPeriod

Notes

  1. recorded in Nov. 1952, first in Vienna’s Musikverein and then at Abbey Road, with a patch-up session at Abbey Road on 16 July 1953

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References

  1. 1 2 "Mass in B minor BWV 232 - Recordings Part 1: 1900–1949". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mass in B minor BWV 232 - Recordings Part 2: 1950–1959". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mass in B minor BWV 232 - Recordings Part 3: 1960–1969". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 "Mass in B minor BWV 232 - Recordings Part 4: 1970–1979". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mass in B minor BWV 232 - Recordings Part 5: 1980–1989". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Mass in B minor BWV 232 - Recordings Part 6: 1990–1999". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  7. "Bach: Mass in B minor - Robert Shaw | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Mass in B minor BWV 232 - Recordings Part 7: 2000–2009". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  9. "Mass in B minor BWV 232 - Recordings Part 8: 2010–2019". bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 23 February 2015.