Wed 17 Dec 2025 19:30 - 22:00
Hohe Messe
The Netherlands Bach Society
From Tue 25 Mar 2025 12:00
Nederlandse Bachvereniging (photo Eduardus Lee)

Hohe Messe

The Netherlands Bach Society
Wed 17 Dec 2025 19:30 - 22:00
Wed 17 Dec 2025
19:30 - 22:00
  • Wed 17 Dec 2025
    19:30 - 22:00
    Grote Zaal
    From Tue 25 Mar 2025 12:00

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach Mass in B minor ‘Hohe Messe’ BWV 232

Credits

Nederlandse Bachvereniging 
Richard Egarr conductor
Johanna Ihrig soprano 
Mary Bevan soprano 
Helen Charleston alto
Guy Cutting tenor
Matthew Brook bass

Bach’s musical testament

Sublime, monumental, all-encompassing. Only superlatives can describe Bach’s Hohe Messe. At the end of his life, Bach brought together his most beautiful and finest works into a single mass. This was how Bach wanted to be remembered; the Hohe Messe (Mass in B minor) is his musical testament. From the awe-inspiring Kyrie to the jubilant Dona nobis pacem, with in between nine completely unique arias and duets, fourteen imposing choral movements and a wide range of instrumental solos. 

The British conductor Richard Egarr: ‘Some musical compositions are simply greater than any performance can realise: Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Bach’s Mass in B minor are two such examples. These transcendental masterpieces were deliberately created as messages of hope for posterity, and as a challenge for us to attain the same artistic heights. It’s always a supremely humbling joy to make that journey with Bach in this sublime creation.’