Philippa Hyde soprano
Claire Tomlin soprano
Timothy Travers-Brown countertenor
Patrick McCarthy tenor
Eamonn Dougan bass
Psalmody
Essex Baroque Orchestra
directed by Peter Holman

Bach’s Mass in B minor is probably the greatest religious work from the Baroque period.  It has its origins in a separate Sanctus written for a Christmas service at St Thomas’s church in Leipzig in 1724 and a Kyrie and Gloria written for the Dresden court in 1733.  The other movements, the Credo and the Agnus Dei, were added near the end of Bach’s life, in 1747-1749.  The resulting work, like others compiled in Bach’s old age, draws together and sums up a number of traditions, ranging from Renaissance counterpoint to the latest operatic solos, and from Catholic as well as Lutheran church music.

This performance, with a distinguished cast of soloists and a period instrument orchestra, incorporates recent advances in our knowledge of how such works were performed in the eighteenth century.