Report: Before performance of Bach Mass, CSO music director asks for moment of silence, notes music’s power to bring “harmony and love and brotherhood” to world torn by violence.

Riccardo Muti, music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, honored the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings at Orchestra Hall on Tuesday night with a dedication and a reminder of music’s power to transcend cultural boundaries.

Prior to the CSO’s fourth performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Muti addressed the audience.

“I think that the entire world is shocked about what happened in Boston,” he said. “Tonight, by coincidence, we perform, for the fourth time, the big work of Bach. It’s one of the greatest monuments of music and of the culture of mankind. The piece ends with ‘Dona nobis pacem,’ which means ‘Give us peace.’  But the problem is that Bach didn’t mean only give us eternal peace, but give us peace on Earth. And violence is something that is increasing around the world.

“I think that we musicians try to help with our music, which brings harmony and love and brotherhood to the world, but we can do just our part.  We can do something that can help throughout the world through music that reaches without words, so to speak, from heart to heart.

“Before we perform the Mass, we — my colleagues of the orchestra and members of the chorus — want to dedicate it to the victims of the tragedy in Boston and would like to ask you for a moment of concentration and silence.”

By late Tuesday night, the death toll from two explosions at the Boston Marathon stood at three, with another 176 people injured, at least 17 of them in critical condition.

Some 10,000 people attended the CSO’s four concerts of the Bach Mass, according the orchestra spokeswoman Rachelle Roe.

Related Link: 

• Review of the Muti-CSO Bach Mass in B Minor: Read it at ChicagoOntheAisle.com