Arthur Bliss conducts Bach’s Mass in B minor at Portsmouth, 1921.

Whilst investigating some of Arthur Bliss’s (1891-1975) early compositions dating from the early 1920s, I was surprised to discover that he had conducted a performance of J.S. Bach’s monumental Mass in B minor. Yet, after the end of the First World War, Bliss had many conducting engagements, featuring a “comprehensive repertoire” including Pergolesi, Berlioz, Holst, Vaughan Williams as well as J.S. Bach. Stewart Craggs (Arthur Bliss: A Bio-bibliography, Westport Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 1988, p.4), states that “he remained an excellent conductor for the rest of his life; orchestras, choirs, brass bands all respected him and enjoyed playing under him.” 

On the 9 March 1921, the Portsmouth Evening News (p.10) announced that the Borough of Portsmouth Philharmonic Society would give a performance of Bach’s B Minor Mass at the Town Hall, Portsmouth on Thursday, 17 March at 8pm. It also acknowledged that this was the work’s “first time” in this town. Tickets were priced at 5/9d for reserved and 2/4d, unreserved, and were available from Messrs Godfreys Ltd, the piano maker and dealer, Palmerston Road, Southsea.

The soloists were billed as Miss Flora Mann, Miss Lilian Berger and Mr. Steuart Wilson, along with the Society’s full orchestra and chorus. The advert does not mention the guest conductor, Arthur Bliss.

A few words about the work will be of interest. The first two sections of the Mass, the Kyrie and Gloria, were finished in the year 1733 as “a trifling example of my [Bach’s] skill.” It was dedicated to King Augustus III, Elector of Saxony at a time when Bach was seeking preferment as the Court Composer in the Saxon Royal Chapel. The remaining sections were completed some five years later.

The entire Mass was not heard in Bach’s lifetime. In fact, it was not premiered in full until 1859 in Leipzig, with Karl Riedel and the Riedel-Verein. The first performance of the Mass in the UK was given by The Bach Choir, newly formed for this purpose by conductor Otto Goldschmidt, in 1876 in St James's Hall, London.

It should be recalled that the B minor mass is too large scale to be used liturgically. Structurally, the Mass reflects the five traditional sections of the Liturgy – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. Overall, there are some 24 parts, consisting of 6 arias, 3 duets and fifteen choruses. The entire work takes nearly two hours to perform.

The review of the concert was given in the Portsmouth Evening News (18 March 1921, p.4) by an unsigned critic. The article was syndicated to the Hampshire Telegraph being published there on Friday 25 March (p.4):

BACH’S THRILLING MASS: PHILHARMONIC TRIUMPH AT PORTSMOUTH. The Bach concert given by the Portsmouth Philharmonic Society, at the Town Hall, last evening, provided a thrilling experience for the huge audience present. The Mass in Minor by far the most pretentious of the works which the Society has presented in the course of its extensive career, and one can say with equal truth that the success attending the production was the most gigantic on record.

The performers, under the capable command of Mr. Arthur Bliss, Mus. Bac., from start to finish interpreted the Mass without blemish, and it can be accounted to them for musical virtue that they discovered in the work a deeper meaning than is usually unravelled by those who attempt it. The only suggestion of a flaw in the performance that could be made rested on the natural composition of the vocalists - the customary minority in the tenor section, which was, of course, somewhat pronounced in the chorus, "Osanna, in Excelsis," demanding as it does the double choir formation. The tenors, however, are to be complimented on the manner in which they sustained volume against great odds; and although their minority was noticeable, it is not to be inferred that this denoted any avoidable failing on their part. The basses found their heavy role to their liking, but in some passages were inclined to favour too heavy a tone where there should have been one of buoyancy. The vocal honours of the chorus undoubtedly went to the sopranos, whose blending of strength with sweetness of tone was a quality seldom encountered. The like may be said of the contraltos, but they were slightly weaker.

The orchestration was perfect. There can be no other description than this of the instrumentalists' performance, and it should now be established beyond doubt that they constitute one of the finest orchestras in the provinces.

It was a disappointment to those of the audience who knew the whole of the Mass to learn that the Society had been forced to delete the Credo, which constitutes the central portion of the work. This decision, however, was a wise one. The limited number of rehearsals possible was the reason for the omission. It is gratifying to learn that the Credo, which forms what may be termed the most sublime expression in all music, will be performed at a later concert.

In their rendering last evening, the Society were assisted in the solo parts by Miss Flora Mann (soprano), Miss Lilian Berger (contralto) and Mr. Steuart Wilson (tenor); and instrumentally Mr. Stanley Blagrove (violin obligatos), Mr. Albert Fransella (flute soloist), Mr. Leon Goossens (oboe soloist), and Mr. L. Lickford (continuo).

It should be noted that the omission of the Credo would have made the concert last for about an hour and a half.

Finally, Sir Arthur Bliss in his autobiographical As I Remember London: Faber and Faber, 1970; revised and enlarged: London, Thames Publishing, 1989, p.278) recalled that when he appeared on the “fanciful programme” Desert Island Discs, he “chose for [his] first record the Credo from Bach’s B minor Mass. He wrote that “when I listen to this, I am filled with such as positive belief, belief in something much greater than the small self, that even in moments of dark depression it is difficult to admit doubt.”  He had previously noted in his memoirs that conducting Berlioz’s Faust and Bach’s B Minor Mass “as particularly rewarding occasions for me.” (op.cit. p.63).