Philippe Herreweghe, the world-renowned conductor and pioneer of early music performance, will bring his acclaimed ensemble Collegium Vocale Gent to Korea this September to perform Bach's Mass in B Minor, BWV 232. This marks the first time in 19 years that the Belgian maestro will present this monumental work in the country, despite having conducted the piece nearly 200 times throughout his illustrious career.
Despite his extensive experience with the work, Herreweghe maintains that Bach's Mass in B Minor continues to reveal new depths with each performance. "I and the outstanding Collegium Vocale Gent have performed and also recorded probably most of Bach's works, but Mass in B Minor is one of its kind," he explained in a recent email interview. The conductor describes the piece as resembling "a musical will, with a depth concluding a spiritual university and with a uniting power which puts the functional character of a mass aside and leads into a truly existential musical expression."
Herreweghe views the Mass in B Minor not as a single cohesive work, but rather as "more a collection of pieces composed throughout his life cumulated as his musical legacy towards the end of his life; a synthesis of decades of experience, theological depth, contrapuntal mastery and a spiritual power, which is too much for me to understand." This perspective reflects the conductor's deep appreciation for Bach's genius and the complexity of the composer's final masterpiece.
The conductor's relationship with Bach's music continues to evolve after decades of study and performance. He finds endless sources of discovery not only in the Mass in B Minor but also in works like the "St. Matthew Passion." "I hear things I had never heard before, I notice a clarity of focus or articulation I had never seen, and that makes both works profoundly special to me," Herreweghe shared.
Herreweghe's journey with Collegium Vocale Gent began in 1970 when he founded the ensemble with fellow students at Ghent University. Originally trained as a psychiatrist, he humorously admitted that one of the reasons he founded the ensemble was "to get closer to women." However, what started as a youthful impulse has grown into something far more significant over the past 55 years.
Today, Collegium Vocale Gent stands as one of the world's foremost ensembles specializing in historically informed performance practice. Herreweghe's influence has extended well beyond his original ensemble, as he has established numerous ensembles and festivals, directed prestigious groups such as La Chapelle Royale and the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées (founded in 1991), and recorded more than 100 albums with leading record labels.
The conductor is passionate about the importance of period instruments in bringing Bach's music to life authentically. "It's not about nostalgia or purism, it's about finding the sound world Bach imagined," Herreweghe emphasized. "These instruments offer more transparency, warmth and rhetorical clarity, which helps us hear the structure and meaning of the music more directly." He believes that period instruments create "more natural" balance between voices and instruments, allowing "the music to breathe differently – less monumental, more intimate and spiritual."
This approach, according to Herreweghe, "allows Bach's voice to come through not louder, but more truthfully." The conductor notes that his relationship with Bach's music has become "more intimate, more personal" compared to when he first founded Collegium Vocale Gent 55 years ago. "Through historically informed performance, we've learned to hear the human voice in his writing," he explained.
Reflecting on the evolution of early music performance over the decades, Herreweghe observes that "historical performance practice has developed enormously, with more knowledge, but also more diversity." However, he maintains that certain principles remain constant: "What has not changed – and should never change – is the respect for the music itself. Every generation must listen to Bach anew, understand him anew."
Music lovers in Korea will have three opportunities to experience this masterful interpretation of Bach's Mass in B Minor. Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent will perform from September 18 to 20 at three prestigious venues: Seoul Arts Center, Daejeon Arts Center, and Art Center Incheon. These performances promise to showcase the culmination of decades of research, practice, and deep musical understanding from one of the world's most respected interpreters of Baroque music.
