Bach Mass in B Minor

Paragon Singers

Director Keith Bennett's last concert with Paragon Singers.
Soloists: Faye Newton, Jane Hunt, Russell Harcourt, Mark Dobell, Craig Bissex
Florilegium

For director Keith Bennett’s swansong after thirty-three years at the helm, and also to celebrate forty years of the Paragon Singers they are performing Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Florilegium, world-renowned exponents of Bach’s music. Completed the year before the composer’s death the piece is a monument of Western music: from the memorable opening five bars both listener and performer are taken on an intense musical journey. The composing of the B Minor Mass dominated the last years of Bach’s life—so much so that he neglected other projects in order to complete it—and is a complex re-working of existing material and newly composed music. The sheer scale of the piece with its four, five, six and eight part writing for chorus interwoven with lyrical solo and duet arias make this a musical tour de force, unforgettable for both performers and audience.