Getting back to Bach

Friday, April 7, 2000 | 9:25 a.m.

After years of failing eyesight, famed baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach awoke on the morning of July 28, 1750, to find that once more he could see clearly.

Later in the day the 65-year-old composer suffered a stroke and died, according to historical information.

It was a bizarre ending for a man whose music is in the "bizarre" genre -- the English word "baroque" is derived from the Italian "barocco," which means "bizarre" and refers to the period of 1600 to 1780 when art, architecture and music were characterized by ornateness. Some say gaudiness.

Purists would say that a better translation would be "exuberant," because that term more accurately reflects the sense of the music.

An international tradition has evolved over the years of observing the anniversary of the death of the man considered by many to be the best German composer of the baroque period.

The 250th anniversary will be commemorated locally with a presentation of Bach's "Mass in B Minor" at 3 p.m. Sunday at UNLV's Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall.

The performance will be presented by the Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society and performed by the Musical Arts Chorus, Musical Arts Orchestra and the Premier Chorale of Los Angeles.

"We performed this commemorative five years ago and had one our bigger crowds," Douglas Peterson, music director of the Musical Arts Society, said, adding that "Mass in B Minor" is "one of the truly great works of all times."

The piece evolved over a period of 15 years, from about 1733 to 1749.

In a historical context, the music was written during a period heavily influenced by Italian composers, such as Giovanni Pergolesi (1710-1736) and Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741).

It also was influenced by the church and by states -- during that period both Italy and Germany were made up of complex state governments ruled by kings or princes who hired court musicians.

During this span of history religion was brought to the German masses, both through Martin Luther's translations of biblical texts into German, and through the extensive use of the chorale as an essential accompaniment to church services.

Much of German baroque music developed from traditional chorale melodies.

Bach's music reflects a "perfect order" of the universe, which is considered to be the essence of baroque. Baroque composer and theorist Johann Joseph Fux said: "A composition meets the demands of good taste if it is well constructed, avoids trivialities as well as willful eccentricities, aims at the sublime, but moves in a natural ordered way, combining brilliant ideas with perfect workmanship."

The direction of Bach's music was influenced in his early years by several courts at which he was employed; the greater part of his working life, however, was spent in the state of Leipzig, where his position as Cantor of St Thomas' Church required the creation of more than 200 church cantatas.

When Bach died in 1750 he left a legacy that summarized baroque music. Historians say that his life's work brought baroque musical forms to the peak of their development.

His work includes:

Peterson said the "Mass in B Minor" is the result of an application by Bach in 1733 for the post of concert composer to the Elector of Saxony.

In support of the application, to show his skills, Bach sent what would be the first two movements of the Mass, Peterson said. His petition was granted three years later. The remaining movements of the Mass were created later.

"(The Mass) is not liturgical music," Peterson noted. "It is too long and too elaborate to be used in any church service. It is rather a work which, like Beethoven's 'Missa solemnis,' transcends denominational limits and rises to the height of a universal statement of Christian faith."

Peterson is excited about the upcoming performance of work by one of his favorite composers.

Guest soloists include soprano Rebecca Martindale, mezzo-soprano Jolin Barol-Gilmore, tenor Steve Robinson and bass-baritone Scott M. Hensley.

Martindale is a vocal coach at the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts; Henderson resident Barol-Gilmore is a five-time winner of the New Mexio State National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition; Robinson, a music therapist at the Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, has performed in several operas around the nation; and Hensley is a musical specialist in the Clark County School District.

Peterson has been music director of the Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society for the past 32 of its 37 years.