Evening star., 1955-11-06
NEWS OF MUSIC
By IRVING LoWENs

eties viii open their season
with Bach's B minor mass.
From past experience this is
the sixth complete B minor to
be given ct washington Cathe-
dral under Paul Callaway's
directicn-it can be safely
predicted that this viii be an
outstanding performance.
As Washinetonians know.
the moving spirit behind music
on Mount st Alban is Paul
Callaway. This diminutive.
dynamic musician has moldet
pounded, cajole d. pleaded.
screamed, and conducted his
group with the unwieldy name
into one Of the country's OUT
standing choral organizations.
A few weeks ago, 3 friend
of mine asked me II ] had
any objections In principle to
hearing the Mass done by
such . large chorus. Quite
q few musicians do. offhand-
edly, I answered that ! had no
objections to hearing the B
minor performed by any
chorus. large or small. so long
as it was well done. Yet. the
question Is o bit more compli-
Gated than that.
OF course. the Bach that the
wednesday audience viii be
hearing is not the 18th century
cantor. It is q different COM
poser, invented by Mendels-
sonn and the 10Th century. As
sung BY q chorus Of some ZOO
odd voices, the B minor Mass
can almost be considered .
Each transcription Of an Inn
mensely difficult chamber
work, q classic cratorio on the
subject Of the Mass, into the
language Of the giant Ronan-
to cantata such - Elijah.
Performing Bach (and Ham
dslp In this way conforms to
. respected tradition more
than 100 ysars old. When
everything goes ~ 1t should
30, this kind Of reading can
result In an overwhelming and
quite genuine musical expert
ence Nothing In the entire
range Of music can be COM
pared to the grandeur Of the
laree chorus IN massive fortis-
sinic, or to the awesoEne. iun-
earthly quality Of q hushed
pianissiInO.
Nevertheless, the credits are
balanced some would aay
OverhNIanced by certain in-
svitAbIe debits. In rapid pas-
sagos, clarity must bs sacri-
nDsd. Here, no 2O0-voics choir.
REGARDLESS Of it, members. can
avoid going fuzzy. Further
m0re, the very magniflcence Of
the choral sound throws the
solos into the shade and makes
them sound less impressive
than they IN fact are.
Getting the right balance In
this kind Of . b minor Mass
Is I giant-sized Job. The or
dinary conductor should not
attempt 1t. Too frequently, IN
such 3 performance. the cl10-
rus sounds like q graceful.
somewhat confused elephant.
the orchestra like q lush. 18th
century symphunic ensemble
playing Gchumania. and the
solOlsts Ike fngitiyes from .
hog ealing contest. ! have
heard the Mass done by the
Bach Bethlehem Choir under
Ifor Jones. BY the New York
Oratori0 Society under Albert
St0essel, and BY many others.
An too often / have come away
from their readings tired and
bored rather than uplifted-
normally. / prefer Bach as
Arthur Mendel used 10 do It
with his Cantata Singers. or
as Robert shaw did It with
the Collegiate Chorale.
But I cannot forget that the
Nfendelssohnian Baci1-so Bit
terry attacked by such discern
ing critics is Bernard Shaw
and Virgil Thomson can be .
richly rewarding business too.
The Key ID the conductor who
must be blessed with the magic
touch.
This magic touch Paul CAL
lawey fortunately has. His
B minor Mass, which ] have
listened to with astonishment
befere, Is one Of the big rea-
sons why / am ioathe to aban-
don completely the Illogical
old tradition.
Maybe Mendelssohn. Brahms
and Roger had similar reasons
why they preferred king-sized
to life-sized Bach.
AA
The Bach B minor Mass as
presented BY the Washington
and Cathedral Choral So
cieties viii be the first Of
three concerts At the Ca
thedral this season to be spoll-
sored by the Peoples Drug
stores. The live performance
win be broadcast by Radio
station WGMS.
Other works scheduled for
performance BY Mr.. Calle-
way In subsequent concerts
are Mozart's G minor Mass,
the sensationaIly successfui
srravers Of Kierkegaard' BY
Samuel Barber, and Arthur
Honegger's dramatic opera
cantata king David =
\
OTHER EVENTS
This u I big week for Bach
enthusiasts. Next Sunday ~
Constitution Hall Patrick
Hayes viii present the Each
Aria GROUP In q return en-