It’s sad, really. Many contemporary music critics who are quick to point out when a piece expresses a bias against organized religion – Verdi’s “Don Carlo” is the most common example – are bereft of understanding when confronted by a work of a religious nature. Too often, these scribblers leave God out of their analyses altogether. On Good Friday at Avery Fisher Hall, the National Chorale demonstrated forcefully that the sacred music of Johann Sebastian Bach is not just about sharps and flats.

There is no hard evidence that Bach ever conducted the Mass in B Minor or that he actually intended it to survive in its current form. A Lutheran, he submitted the Latin Kyrie and Gloria portions to the Saxon elector Friedrich Augustus II for his approval, but was ignored. The remaining movements were later constructed in the style of the period known as the parody, not as in the modern sense of a satire, but as an imitative form on a prescribed text. Some of these movements are lifted directly from the lost Bach cantata literature. In any case, the work is remarkably unified thematically and harmonically and works magnificently as a glorification of a man for his God.

Now in its 38th continuous season at Avery Fisher, the National Chorale provides a high quality of art. Music director Martin Josman had led events on the plaza each season since 1965, tending to focus on the masterworks. The group for the Bach was on the small side, less than 40 singers in total. As a chorus, they were remarkably well blended, though the auditorium’s unforgiving acoustics sometimes exposed a certain waywardness, as, for example, in the alto section during the reprise of the Kyrie.

The choice of instrumentation was an inspired one. The orchestra played modern instruments, but the soloists featured period alternatives that were employed by some of New York’s best freelance musicians.

The most interesting section of the piece from a timbral point of view was the aria “Quoniam tu solus sanctus,” sung by the bass James Bobick. The accompanying trio consisted of the two bassoons, played by Charles McCracken and Seth Baer, and David Jolley, late of Orpheus and now of Windscape, who flawlessly navigated the notoriously difficult corno di caccia, the “natural” or valveless horn. The separation of sounds these four musicians produced was so raw as to seem ultramodern, when in actuality, they looked backward to the medieval consort. This type of sonic experimentation is one of the ancillary joys of Bach.

As for the other vocal soloists, tenor Robert Bush showed his facility in the punishing upper register for the “Domine Deus,” and soprano Rebecca Copley was solid and mellow in the duet “Laudamus te,” lovingly complimented by the violin solos of Erica Kiesewetter, the concertmistress of the American Symphony Orchestra. The best singing of the night was by alto Margaret Thompson, who possesses a strong, rounded, unwavering technique and a finely burnished tone. Her duet with Ms. Copley in the “Christe eleison” was high-toned and polished, her aria “Qui sedes ad dextram patris” the highlight of the evening.

The oboe d’amore of Diane Lesser accompanied Ms. Thompson in this aria. This variant of the double reed family has a sound even more plangent than its better-known cousins – the English horn and oboe – and is occasionally employed in music written well after the Baroque period (Mahler’s “Kindertotenlieder,” for instance).This performance was notable for its tasteful usage of these unusual vestiges from another time. The Gloria was extremely powerful largely because the trumpet section consisted of two standard instruments in B flat and one much higher and smaller fellow in E flat.

Coupled with the spare quality of the ensemble as a whole, this was a very satisfying sound for Bach. This may have been a universe away from the opulent Otto Klemperer version, but it was deliciously provocative for the ear. Don’t believe anyone who tells you that a particular sonorous combination is the way that Bach would have had it, for that will always remain a mystery.

Finally, two extra-musical observations. Experiencing this Mass was a lot like being in church, since, with the regular Lincoln Center ushers on holiday, people felt comfortable wandering in and out of the hall. Second, there were approximately two dozen female singers, including the two soloists, and each was wearing a dress of a different bright color. The primavera assortment reminded me of a delightful Easter basket of eggs and reinforced the spirit of rebirth. A pity that many of my colleagues wouldn’t have understood the good news.