Our family is going through a really intense time. Our 3 year-old-almost-4 grandson just had open heart surgery. He is doing well, but is still in the ICU.
The thing is, he has always been kind of given to drama, so it’s a little hard to know how much is just his normal reaction to life and how much is the operation. Of course, he has plenty of reason to be dramatic. He has an incision that starts close to the top of his chest and goes about to his belly button. He has tubes, IV, heart monitors and a bunch of other stuff connected to him.
He needs to have that spunky, fighting spirit he has always had. He has not forgotten his manners, though. One nurse was impressed that he thanked her!
Why am I sharing this? Well, I have gone to the hospital each day. In the car, I have been listening to Bach’s Mass in b minor. I drove through the University District yesterday with the windows of the car down and the Bose sound system blaring out the Gloria right through to the Gratias agimus tibi. It was a beautiful day.
See, the Bach’s Mass in b minor is one of the main things that helped me convert to the Catholic Church. Yes, I know he was Lutheran, but that is just a detail of history. It is how he handled the Catholic Mass that matters to me.
It can be argued that this piece of music is the greatest ever written. I believe that.
The Sanctus is about as close to being Heavenly music as we will get on this earth, it seems to me. For a long time I thought that the women’s voices most accurately represented the voices of angels and saints singing around the Throne of God in Heaven.
Yesterday I changed my mind. It is really the ripping bass parts that remind me of angels. Why the bass parts, especially that of the bass viols, that remind me most of St. Michael the Archangel and Heavenly Host?
Angels are warriors.
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle! We need some heavenly help.
Well, of course the women’s high voices are meant to sound angelic as well.
It is the bajo, though, that really converted me, or helped to. When I first started listening to this piece of music a couple of years ago or more, it was the bass that really stood out to me. I could hear myself playing the oboe over the continuo.
So, to be specific, it was the sound of Bach’s bass parts that won my heart and converted me. What could inspire such glorious beauty but the Mass? It had to be true.
Why did Bach choose the Mass to put on display his greatest music? Some say it was little more than an audition for a job. I don’t believe that. Why the Mass? He could have written another Oratorio, but he chose the Mass.
Of course God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. He has His messengers, though, and they are called angels. St. Michael is one of many that God uses to accomplish His will. He has to sing bass, not soprano.
Can I help it if I hear their presence in the Mass in b minor? Listen to it and see if it doesn’t lift your spirit up to the heavenly realms. Get the NY Philharmonic version.
Of course, the Mass itself is all about Heaven on earth.
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