Bach in the U.S.A.

Synopsis

On today's date in 1886, the Mass in B minor by J.S. Bach was presented at a concert performance in America for the first time during Theodore Thomas's May Festival in Cincinnati. It wasn't a complete performance, mind you, but the 11 sections performed were a substantial chunk of the complete work.

The following year, Boston's Handel and Haydn Society performed 12 selections, with Carl Zerrahn conducting. In both Cincinnati and Boston, the famous 19-century German soprano Lilli Lehmann appeared as one of the soprano soloists.

The first complete performance of Bach's Mass was given at the Moravian Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on March 17, 1900, by the Bach Choir under J. Fred Wolf. On April 5 that same year, Bach's complete Mass debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York, presented by Frank Damrosch's Oratorio Society. The Carnegie Hall audience was large and enthusiastic, and, in an early nod to historical authenticity, Mr. Damrosch had two oboe d'amores custom made in Germany for the occasion. Although historic, that New York premiere of Bach's Mass was hardly "historically informed," by today's standards, since it featured an orchestra of 72 players and a chorus of 500!

"What would the modest and self-contained cantor of the Thomas school have said," opined The New York Times, "could he have witnessed such a production of his work and such an audience?" What indeed!

Music Played in Today's Program

J.S. Bach (1685 - 1750) Mass in b minor, BBC Sym Chorus; Philharmonia Orchestra; Otto Klemperer, cond. EMI 63364

On This Day

Births

• 1616 - Baptismal date of German composer and organist Johann Jacob Froberger, in Stuttgart;

Deaths

• 1935 - American composer Charles Martin Loeffler, age 74, in Medfield, Mass.;

• 1954 - American composer and insurance executive Charles Ives, age 79, in New York;

• 2009 - British composer Nicholas Maw, age 73, in Washington, D.C.;

Premieres

• 1842 - Donizetti: opera "Linda di Chamounix," in Vienna;

• 1886 - Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 ("Organ"), in London;

• 1911 - Ravel: "L'Heure espagnole" (Spanish Hour), in Paris at the Opèra Comique;

• 1915 - Stravinsky: Three Pieces for string quartet, in Paris;

• 1932 - Shostakovich: incidental music for Shakespeare's "Hamlet," in Moscow at the Vakhtangov Theater;

• 1939 - Cowell: "Return" for 3 percussionists and wailer, at the Cornish School in Seattle, by John Cage and his Percussion Group;

• 1942 - Cage: music for the radio play "The City Wears a Slouch Hat" (text by poet Kenneth Patchen), broadcast in Chicago;

• 2000 - Robert X. Rodriguez: "The Last Night of Don Juan" for chorus and orchestra, by the San Antonio Symphony and chorus, Wilkins conducting;

• 2002 - William Bolcom: "Seventh Symphony (A Symphonic Concerto)," at Carnegie Hall in New York, by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine conducting.

Others

• 1886 - American premiere of J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor (11 selections), during the May Festival in Cincinnati, conducted by Theodore Thomas; The next documented performance (12 sections) was given in Boston on February 27, 1887, by the Handel and Haydn Society, with Carl Zerrahn conducting a chorus of 432 and an orchestra of 50; In both the 1886 Cincinnati and 1887 Boston performances, the famous 19-century German soprano Lilli Lehmann appeared as one of the soprano soloists; The first complete performance of the work was apparently given either at the Moravian Church in Bethlehem on Mar 17, 1900, by the Bach Choir under J. Fred Wolf, or at Carnegie Hall in new York on April 5, 1900, by the Oratorio Society, Frank Damrosch conducting.