Chicago Chorale

How does one sing Bach?

Probably apocryphal, but nonetheless interesting: at the height of his career, German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was asked by a young singer, “What must I do to learn to sing like you?” To which the baritone replied, “Sing Bach.”

Why did Bach, a Lutheran, compose a mass?

Lutherans continue to claim Bach—some refer to him as the “fifth evangelist”— and others stress a symbolic father-son relationship between him and Martin Luther: Luther clarified the faith, and Bach set it to music.

Behind/beyond the B minor score

A first glance at a good Bach edition reveals time signatures, clefs, and a lot of notes—little else. No color words; no tempo indications; no dynamic markings; no crescendos, decrescendos, ritardandos, accelerandos; very little to delineate phrase, articulation, emotional content; almost no ornamentation.