No 165 Großes Concert

The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt took a deep interest in Bach’s work even during one of his early periods as a composer and later said of it: »In my state of extreme discomfort at that time I wanted to prove to myself how beautiful Bach’s music was, and how hateful mine was. I was convinced that through this musical sacrifice I could gain a clearer vision of my own contradictions.« This is expressed in Collage über B-A-C-H (1964) and »Wenn Bach Bienen gezüchtet hätte ...« (»If Bach had kept bees ...«, 1976). In the Grosses Concert, Andris Nelsons combines these works by Pärt with those of another Bach admirer, Robert Schumann. The note sequence B-A-C-H (in German notation, H is the note B natural) is concealed also in the latter’s Second Symphony.