Last night was the final event of the BachFest Leipzig 2012–the great Mass in B-minor performed by the English Concert. It was obvious that this was a very familiar and beloved piece to many in the audience. The man sitting next to us “conducted” the whole piece throughout and mouthed all the words to the choruses. There were a number of people who were following the music with the score, Carl included. 

I couldn’t help but think back to LCH’s performanes of May 2011. We certainly can hold our heads high and be very proud of our rendition. We can safely say that we could easily have been on the world’s stage with the best of them. Although we didn’t have period instruments as we heard here, our singers and instrumentalists were mighty fine, in fact, I mu
ch preferred our soloists! Rwmember Meg Bragle’s poignant Agnus Dei, followed by that magnificent final chorus, Dona nobis pacem.  Wasn’t that the greatest?

Some of the tempos we heard tonight were extremely fast and again we were left breathless. The work was performed straight through, without an intermission, and it took exactly two hours total. The audience really liked it, though, and immediately jumped to their feet when the applause started.

After the concert we spoke to the Rev. Robert Moore of Christ the King Lutheran in Houston, and asked him to give our regards to former LCH parishioner Vicki Gorman and her family, who now attend there.