Helmut Rilling Conducts Bach's B Minor Mass

For more than forty years Helmut Rilling has been one of the leading interpreters of the choral works of J.S. Bach. He founded the Gachinger Kantorei in 1954, the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart in 1965 and the Oregon Bach Festival in 1970. 

Among his many distinctions he has made two recordings of the complete choral works of Bach as well as the major choral works of many other composers.

Although Rilling is widely respected for his Bach performances he is very much "old school" in the sense that he doesn't use period instruments in his performances and doesn't pay much attention to the work of conductor-scholars such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt or John Eliot Gardiner.

At the age of 78 Rilling is still very active but he will step down from the Oregon Bach Festival in 2013.

In this video Rilling gives a lecture on Bach's B Minor Mass and uses the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra and Chorus and soloists to illustrate his talk.

Paul E. Robinson