MUSI C.
A PROTESTANT MASS.
WITITLN the memory of the present generation, there has beem certainly no event of so much interest to all English lovers of music as the two recent performances of J. S.. Bach's great Mass in B Minor, at St. James's Hall. In the first place, there has always been a kind of mystery about this gigantic- work, of which nothing but some detached portions has, until a week or two ago, ever been publicly performed in this country.. Fortunate travellers in Germany may have been present at one- of the five or six performances of the Mass in its entirety, which are all that appear to have ever been given, at least during the last hundred years. But most English musicians, professional and amateur, have had to content themselves with reading the score, and imagining the effect of the massive and intricate choral writing, and of the dainty combinations and interweavings of wind instruments with the solo voices. And it is hardly neces- sary to say that, as in regard to painting, so in regard to. music, there is a great body of people with sufficient culture thoroughly to enjoy results, without being able in the least to understand the devices by which those results are produced. Of a hundred persons who appreciate most heartily the heavenly- light shining behind the head of the infant Saviour in the San Sisto picture at Dresden, a very small number could probably explain the particular contrivance used by the painter to obtain this re- sult. And certainly of the numbers of attentive and delighted listeners in St. James's Hall on Monday night, or even of the singers on that occasion, only a select few would have been able to analyse one of the choruses, or even, from merely looking at the printed score, to conceive any vivid impression of the effect. Bat the unscientific majority were honestly delighted all the same, and there are plenty of their like who were unhappily not pre- sent, and who may not be displeased to know what manner of thing the B Minor Mass really seems to be on a first hearing.
There is another reason which invests with a special interest the composition to which we are alluding,—it is, as we have called it at the head of this article, essentially a "Protestant" Mass. All
lather Masses that we know of are either based upon the ancient 'chants of the Roman Church, or have been, in more modern -times, written on the brilliant model with which we are familiar in the works of Haydn and his successors. There is a certain piquancy in the thought of the great Cantor of Leipzic abandon- ing his stern Lutheran psalm-tunes to clothe in music the "Kyrie Eleison," the "Gloria in Excelsis," and the " Sanctus " and 44 Benedictns " of the Roman rituaL
Again, the recent performances of the Mass were most notable in themselves, apart from the merit of the work performed. They mpresented undoubtedly a great triumph for the body of amateurs who made up the greater part of the chorus, and who, volunteering for these special occasions, under the guidance of Mr. Otto Gold- schmidt (whose wife did not disdain to sing among the rank and file), attacked and conquered a work which has hitherto been :scarcely touched by any musical society in this country. It says much for the progress of the highest musical taste, that a Com- mittee, with the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas at its head, -should have been able to induce the "distinguished amateurs," as they are called in the published notices, who com- posed the bulk of the choir to work for some twenty or thirty evenings, we believe, in a private drawing-room, at the severe and appallingly difficult music of this Mass. Not less encouraging, indeed, is it to find that there is an audience for such a work. On Monday last, the large St. James's Hall was crowded in every part, and the whole Mass, lasting, even with excisions, fully three hours, was listened to with deep interest and close attention.
It is well known that the portions of the service of the Mass 'which it is usual to set to music are five in number, viz. :—The '" Kyrie Eleison," the "Gloria in Excelsis," the "Nicene Creed," the" Sanctus," and the " Agnus Del." Bach adopts this arrange- ment, making, as other composers do, various subdivisions in 'these pieces. But in other respects the plan of his work has no Analogy with that of those who preceded or followed him. Bach's Mass is a collection of choruses, almost all fugal, and of the .gravest and noblest style, interspersed with solos and duets, in 'which latter, while the serious character of the work is not lost, every delicate device is used to add grace and beauty. In fact, Bach had evidently no more dislike to writing " pretty " music than Mozart had, and some of his duets are almost too luscious. The choral writing of such a master can, of course, be examined -only by skilled contrapuntists, but it is evident to any one that Bach's science was his slave, and not his master, and that the :strictest adherence to form and rule was with him compatible with the most startling dramatic effects, and the most complete power .of fitting appropriate musical phrases to the words before him. No other composer has probably ever avoided dryness so -thoroughly, in so lengthy a chain of serious and elaborately scientific movements. The charm of the music, indeed, in addition to its grandeur, makes itself felt from the very first, and is never absent altogether.
It is, of course, impossible to take in a hundredth part of the merits or beauties of such a composition as this great Mass till After many hearings. But as probably none of us will live long -enough to hear it even half-a-dozen times, it may be of some interest to go through the programme briefly, and to indicate the parts which appear at a first hearing to be the most remark- -able. The "Kyrie Eleison" begins with a short adagio for the chorus, leading to an elaborate choral fugue, which, though lengthy, is built upon such striking subjects and is so clearly written that it put the audience into good-humour at once. The words " Christe eleison" are appropriated to a duet for two ladies' voices, which -was admirably sung by Madame Lemmens-Sherrington and Madame Patey. The only word for this duet is "lovely." There is pro- perly a third movement in the "Kyrie," a chorus in a severe style, tut it was omitted, in order to bring the performance within reasonable limits of time. A dashing introduction in triple time, in which the trumpets take a prominent part, ushers in the jubilant 4, Gloria in excelsis Deo." The obviouschange of character in the music at the words, "Et in terra pax hominibus bonm voluntatis," which we know so well in the Masses of later composers, takes place here with the most exquisite effect, the sharply marked triple rhythm giving place to a tender, almost supplicating passage in common time, which is treated in a perfectly original manner. It is first sung in full harmony by the whole choir. Then the wood instruments have it all to themselves for a few bars, when the voices recur to the subject, which is developed with all the resources of Bach's science, and with the utmost wealth of embroidery. The first hearing of this exquisite movement can never be forgotten. We may pass over Madame
Patey's air, " Laudamus te," with Herr Strauss's violin accom- paniment, and the " Gmtias agimus," which was omitted, as it reappears, set to other words, at the end of the Mass. Neither need the duet "Domine Deus," though excellently sung by Madame Lemmens-Sherrington and Mr. Cummings, detain us, except to say that one of the most striking effects of the whole performance seemed to us to be produced by the sombre theme of the chorus, " Qui tolls peccata mundi, miserere nobis," following without pause the Mozart-like sweetness of the close of the duet, and almost sounding as if it were interrupting it. This " Qui tolls" is not long or much elaborated, but it is, to our mind, the most touching movement of the whole Mass. It is remarkable for a singular and persistent flute accompaniment, which gives one the idea of an almost despairing spirit listening hopelessly to the solemn appeals for mercy. But it is very likely that this is mere fancy, and that Bach simply thought of adding a pretty fringe of embroidery to his melancholy chorus. A beautiful solo on the words, " Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris," finely sung by Madame Patey, and a dignified " Quoniain " as a bass air, lead to the stately chorus, "Cum Sand° Spiritu," with which the " Gloria " concludes. It ought to be mentioned that on Monday the " Quoniam" was, in consequence of the sudden illness of Signor Federici, sung, and very well sung without re- hearsal, by Mr. Kempton, of St. Paul's Cathedral. The air has a terribly difficult accompaniment for the horn, which was played with marvellous precision by Herr Wendtland. The " Credo " begins with a grave chorus, alki breve, the instrumental bass of which is striking, and leads to the sumptuous allegro, " Patrem omnipotentem." The words "Et in unum Dominum " are given to the soprano and contralto as a duet. The " Incarnatus" and the " Crucifixus " are treated in a more severe and less dramatic style than that to which we are now accustomed, but the allegro, "Et resurrexit," is a masterpiece of brilliancy and power. A bass air, "Et in Sphitum Sanctum," was omitted on Monday, on account of the absence of Signor Federici. The interest of the music probably culminates in the long and splendid chorus, which, beginning on the word " Confiteor," is carried on to the end of the Creed without pause. Full justice was done to this elaborate finale on Monday, the passage in slow time, with the stately phrase, " Expecto resurrectionem mortuorum," being es- pecially striking and effective. The "Sanctus" is a beautiful and placid chorus, with a picturesque figure of triplets persistently running through one part or another, till it gives way for a time to long holding notes in the upper parts, while the bass brings out more prominently a peculiarly bold phrase on which it has been long insisting. A rapid and brilliant fugue brings us to the " Bene- dictas," an air for the tenor, with a showy violin accompaniment. The "Hosanna," which concludes the section, is a fine and effec- tive double chorus. "Agnus Dei," a touching air for the con- tralto, leads to the "Dona nobis pacem," a chorus, anti breve, with which the work concludes in as grave and lofty a style as it began.
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