I heard
#Bach while standing under the walls of
#Wawel Castle in
#Krakow
Making Wawel Bach's Fans
#Mecca(*1) - sounds weird? Then read this not-so-long txt.
In 1697, with the enthronement of Frederick Augustus I of
#Saxony as
#King August II, a Polish-Saxon personal union was established. It lasted until 1763. After August II's death, his son Frederick August II became king of
#Poland as August III.
August III was crowned on January 17, 1734 at the
#Royal #Cathedral in Wawel
#Castle. The inaugural
#mass featured the
#premiere of Bach's
#Mass in B minor(*2) --- his only
#Catholic #composition, considered the crowning achievement of his composing career --- conducted by Gregory Gervase
#Gorczycki, himself a
#composer.
There are
#historians and
#musicologists who claim that this great mass could not be performed for political reasons, and that Gorczycki conducted some more modest work by
#Johann #Sebastian. This view, however, should be rejected.
At that time, in this country, political considerations had to give way to religious ones. No
#Lutheran work, not even the most modest, could be performed in a Catholic cathedral, during a Catholic mass that accompanied the celebrations of the
#enthronement of the Catholic
#king of Poland.
Postscript:
(*1). In 1736, Bach was given the position of Kapellmeister of the Dresden Chapel as Kapellmeister of the Royal-Polish and Elector-Saxon court and the title of court composer to the Royal-Polish and Elector-Saxon court (Hofkomponist).
(*2) There is an alternative claim that Bach's Mass was premiered in 1733 at St. Sophia Church in Dresden. Both cases refer, to be precise, to performances of the first two movements of the B minor Mass.
Emma Kirkby & Camerata Silesia under the baton of Anna Szostak in Cum invocarem from Gorczycki's Completorium:
https://youtu.be/RPBGLrrBkVw
Philippe Herreweghe & Collegium Vocale Gent in Kyrie from Bach's Mass in B minor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS2biN257sQ
World Concert Hall
Jakub Russecki
