Mass in B minor: Qui sedes

Do you suffer from "sound fatigue?" Do you worry that after just a few seconds of starting to listen to a piece of music that the rest of it will just... sound the same? Good news! We have something just for that. Bach's B minor mass boasts a wide variety of sound color for your listening pleasure. 

As long and towering as it is, it never gets old; each part has something new to offer. The structure of the parts and their church themes are just as important and effective as the sound variety in this gigantic masterwork. In the "Qui sedes" alto aria, the Netherlands Bach Society uses a male alto soloist to balance the oboe d'amore. The combination is "otherworldly" -- we don't hear anything like it in the average classical symphony. Countless metaphors are there not just in the sounds, but the way Bach sets the two parts against each other -- sometimes almost together, sometimes diverging.

 

"Qui sedes" aria as performed by the Netherlands Bach Society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FLbiDrn8IE&t=2499s