Solomon's Knot, Bach's B minor Mass

Without a conductor, the singers of Solomon's Knot Bachs perform H-moll Messe entirely from memory – an approach that makes the experience even more poignant. Het Britse ensemble, known for its uncompromising, collective playing style, exceptional intensity, and mutual sharpness, opens our season with a masterpiece of the Baroque, surrounded by riddles. Bach began his titan task in 1733, but only completed the work fifteen years later – he presumably never experienced an integral performance of the mass. Why he composed the mass remains unclear: the H-moll Messe is too colossal for the liturgy, too serious for the court. Could it be that Bach considered the composition his testament – a panorama of his creative space? The question marks do not detract from the power of the music: the Kyrie , which lingers from the first notes, the Gloria that rejoices unbridled, the moving Agnus Dei based on an aria from a wedding serenade. From ecstasy to meditation, from virtuoso fugues to chordal stillness, and from Catholic piety to Lutheran clarity – a whole world echoes in this triumph of human ingenuity.