Hi List Members, The Critical discographies of SMP, SJP & B minor Mass by
Teri Noel Towe in the Bach Cantatas Website - A Major Addition

I see myself honoured and privileged that I was allowed by Teri Noel Towe
to publish his critical discographies of Saint Matthew Passion BWV 244,
Saint John Passion BWV 245, and the Mass in B minor BWV 232 in the Bach
Cantatas Website.  These articles were originally printed by Cambridge
University Press in 1991 in the book 'Choral Music On Records' edited by
Alan Blyth, and are published in the Bach Cantatas Website by permission
from the edition.  I found the articles enlightening and erudite and, most
important, they put all the HIP-mania into some proportions.  A proof for
the articles' esteem by the critics is that they won Teri Noel Towe an
ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award in 1992.

These articles were completed late in 1989.  They were left "as is", to
stand or fall, on their own, as historical documents that reflects the
state of affairs as Teri Noel Towe found them, just before the volcanic
explosion of new allegedly "authentic" recordings -- purportedly "HIP"
and employing period instruments -- that have overtaken and engulfed the
listener, novice or educated, like a nuee ardente.  The knowledgeable and
up-to-date reader will spot the occasional "inaccuracy" that will serve as
a cogent reminder that these articles are flies in amber.

The articles can be found in the following pages:

Saint Matthew Passion: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Articles/SMP-TNT.htm
Saint John Passion: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Articles/SJP-TNT.htm
Mass in B minor: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Articles/MBM-TNT.htm

No effort has been done to update the articles.  No new recordings have
been added in the body of the articles.  But based on the discographies
in the original articles and on many other sources, I have largely updated
and revised the discographies of those sublime works in the Bach Cantatas
Website.  Some members of the BCML and BRML were very helpful in completing
details of recordings.  Their names are accordingly mentioned at the bottom
of each relevant page.  For your convenience I added links in the body of
the articles from every place in which a recording is mentioned to the
relevant entry in the discographies.  The updated discographies can be
found in the following pages of the Bach Cantatas Website:

Saint Matthew Passion: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV244.htm
Saint John Passion: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV245.htm
Mass in B minor: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV232.htm

Enjoy,

Aryeh Oron
WebMaster of Bach Cantatas Website: http://www.bach-cantatas.com