Philippe Herreweghe 'always discovers something new in Bach'

Philippe Herreweghe, renowned conductor and pioneer of early music, has conducted Bach’s Mass in B Minor, BWV 232, nearly 200 times over his career. Regardless, he always finds something new in Bach's monumental work, which he and Collegium Vocale Gent are set to present in Korea in September, marking their first time presenting the piece here in 19 years.

"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 said in a recent e-mail interview.

"To me it seems like 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," he explained.

This piece, Herreweghe says, is "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."

For Herreweghe, Bach’s works remain an endless source of discovery, where he continues to encounter new insights not only in Mass in B Minor, but in "St. Matthew Passion" as well.

"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."

Originally trained as a psychiatrist, Herreweghe founded Collegium Vocale Gent in 1970 with fellow students at Ghent University. He jokingly said one of the reasons he founded the ensemble was to get closer to women.

Fast forward 55 years, and his influence has expanded far beyond that youthful impulse.

Collegium Vocale Gent has become one of the world’s foremost ensembles in historically informed performance practice. Over the decades, he has established ensembles and festivals, directed groups such as La Chapelle Royale and the Orchestre des Champs-Elysees, founded in 1991, and recorded more than 100 albums with leading labels.

Speaking on the meaning of performing with period instruments, Herreweghe insisted its "not about nostalgia or purism, it’s about finding the sound world Bach imagined. These instruments offer more transparency, warmth and rhetorical clarity, which helps us hear the structure and meaning of the music more directly."

"The balance between voices and instruments becomes more natural, and the music breathes differently — less monumental, more intimate and spiritual. It allows Bach’s voice to come through not louder, but more truthfully," he added.

Compared with 55 years ago when he founded Collegium Vocale Gent, today, the relationship with his music has become more intimate, more personal, according to him.

"Through historically informed performance, we’ve learned to hear the human voice in his writing," he said.

"Historical performance practice has developed enormously, with more knowledge, but also more diversity. 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," he added.

Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent will perform from Sept. 18 to 20 at Seoul Arts Center, Daejeon Arts Center and Art Center Incheon.