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The Mass in B minor (),
BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in ...
232, is an extended setting of the Mass ordinary by
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
. The composition was completed in 1749, the year before Bach's death, and was to a large extent based on earlier work, such as a Sanctus Bach had composed in 1724. Sections that were specifically composed to complete the Mass in the late 1740s include the "Et incarnatus est" part of the Credo. Typically for the time, the composition is formatted as a Neapolitan mass, consisting of a succession of choral movements with a broad orchestral accompaniment, and sections in which a more limited group of instrumentalists accompanies one or more vocal soloists. Among the more unusual characteristics of the composition is its scale: a total performance time of around two hours,Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV 232
at ArkivMusic website.
and a scoring consisting of two groups of
SATB In music, SATB is a scoring of compositions for choirs or consorts of instruments consisting of four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Choral music Four-part harmony using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classic ...
singers and an orchestra featuring an extended
winds Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...
section, strings and continuo. Its key, B minor, is rather exceptional for a composition featuring
natural trumpet A natural trumpet is a valveless brass instrument that is able to play the notes of the harmonic series. History :''See: Clarion'' The natural trumpet was used as a military instrument to facilitate communication (e.g. break camp, retreat, e ...
s in D, although far more of the work is in this key than B minor. Even more exceptional, for a
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
composer such as Bach, is that the composition is a Missa tota. In Bach's day, Masses composed for Lutheran services usually consisted only of a Kyrie and Gloria. Bach had composed five such
Kyrie–Gloria Mass ; plural: Missae breves) usually refers to a Mass composition that is short because part of the text of the Mass ordinary that is usually set to music in a full Mass is left out, or because its execution time is relatively short. Full mass wi ...
es before he completed his Mass in B minor: the Kyrie–Gloria Masses, BWV 233–236, in the late 1730s, and the Mass for the Dresden court, which would become Part I of his only Missa tota, in 1733. The Mass was likely never performed in its entirety during Bach's lifetime. Its earliest documented complete performance took place in 1859. With many dozens of recordings, it is among Bach's most popular vocal works. In 2015, Bach's personal handwritten manuscript of the mass held by the
Berlin State Library The Berlin State Library (; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany, and a property of the German public cultural organization the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (). Founded in ...
was included in the
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's
Memory of the World Register UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction. It ca ...
, a project to protect and preserve culturally significant documents and manuscripts.


Background and context

On 1 February 1733, Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and
Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...
, died. Five months of mourning followed, during which all public music-making was suspended. Bach used the opportunity to work on the composition of a Missa, a portion of the liturgy sung in Latin and common to both the Lutheran and Roman Catholic rites. His aim was to dedicate the work to the new sovereign
Augustus III Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augustus II (). He w ...
, a convert to Catholicism, with the hope of obtaining the title "Electoral Saxon Court Composer". Upon its completion, Bach visited Augustus III in Dresden and presented him with a copy of the Kyrie–Gloria Mass BWV 232 I (early version), together with a petition to be given a court title, dated July 27, 1733; in the accompanying inscription on the wrapper of the Mass he complains that he had "innocently suffered one injury or another" in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
. The petition did not meet with immediate success, but Bach eventually got his title: he was made court composer to Augustus III in 1736. Markus Rathey. 2016. ''Bach's Major Vocal Works. Music, Drama, Liturgy'',
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In the last years of his life, Bach expanded the Missa into a complete setting of the Latin Ordinary. It is not known what prompted this creative effort. Wolfgang Osthoff and other scholars have suggested that Bach intended the completed Mass in B minor for performance at the dedication of the new Hofkirche in
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, a Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Holy Trinity, which was begun in 1738 and was nearing completion by the late 1740s. However, the building was not completed until 1751 and Bach's death in July 1750 prevented his Mass from being submitted for use at the dedication. Instead,
Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...
's Mass in D minor was performed, a work with many similarities to Bach's Mass (the Credo movements in both works feature chant over a walking bass line, for example). In 2013, Michael Maul published research suggesting the possibility that instead, Bach compiled it for performance in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
at St. Stephen's Cathedral (which was Roman Catholic) on St. Cecilia's Day in 1749, as a result of his association with Count Johann Adam von Questenberg. Other explanations are less event-specific, involving Bach's interest in 'encyclopedic' projects (like ''
The Art of Fugue ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fugue'' is the culmination of Bach's e ...
'') that display a wide range of styles, and Bach's desire to preserve some of his best vocal music in a format with wider potential future use than the church cantatas they originated in (see "Movements and their sources" below).


Chronology

The chronology of the Mass in B minor has attracted extensive scholarly attention. Recent literature suggests: * In 1724, Bach composed a Sanctus for six vocal parts for use in the Christmas service. Bach revised it when he reused it in the Mass, changing its initial meter from to , and its vocal scoring from SSSATB to SSAATB. * As noted above, in 1733 Bach composed the Missa (Kyrie and Gloria) during the five-month period of mourning following the February 1st death of Elector Augustus II and before July 27, when Bach presented the successor,
Augustus III of Poland Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as List of rulers of Saxony, Elector of Saxony i ...
, with the Missa as a set of instrumental and vocal parts. It is possible that the Kyrie was meant as mourning music for Augustus II, and the Gloria as celebratory of the accession of Augustus III. * In the mid-1740s (c. 1743–46).Peter Williams, ''J.S. Bach: A Life in Music'', Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 259, Bach re-used all three movements from the Gloria in a cantata for Christmas Day ( ''Gloria in excelsis Deo'', BWV 191) with minor changes of notes as well as the texts. Gregory Butler argues that at the same service (which he dates to Christmas 1745, to celebrate the Peace of Dresden), Bach also used the 1724 Sanctus,Gregory Butler, "Johann Sebastian Bachs Gloria in excelsis Deo BWV 191: Musik für ein Leipziger Dankfest", ''Bach Jahrbuch'' 78 (1992), pp. 65–71 and that this revisiting of the 1733 Missa suggested further development to the composer. * In the "last three years or so" of his life, Bach wrote/assembled the Symbolum Nicenum and the remainder of the work; many scholars, including
Christoph Wolff Christoph Wolff (born 24 May 1940) is a German musicologist. He is best known for his works on the music, life, and period of Johann Sebastian Bach. Christoph Wolff is an emeritus professor of Harvard University, and was part of the faculty sinc ...
, believe he did so in 1748–49. This dating in part reflects the scholarship of Yoshitake Kobayashi, who dates the Symbolum Nicenum section to August–October 1748 based on Bach's increasingly stiff and labored handwriting. Wolff among others argues that the "Et incarnatus est" movement was Bach's last significant composition.Christoph Wolff, ''Bach: Essays on his Life and Music'', Harvard University Press,, 1991: p. 332 The words had been included in the preceding duet, but then Bach decided to treat them as a separate movement for the choir, giving the words extra weight and improving the symmetry of the Credo. John Butt argues that a definite final date of August 25, 1749, can be given, in that on this date C. P. E. Bach completed a setting of the Magnificat with an "Amen" chorus that "shows distinct similarities" to the 'Gratias' from the ''Missa'' and the 'Et expecto' from the ''Symbolum Nicenum''." C. P. E. Bach later reported that he performed this Magnificat (Wq 215) in 1749 in Leipzig "at a Marian festival ... during the lifetime of his now-deceased father".


Title

Bach did not give the Mass in B minor a title. Instead, he organized the 1748–49 manuscript into four folders, each with a different title. That containing the Kyrie and Gloria he called "1. Missa"; that containing the Credo he titled "2. Symbolum Nicenum"; the third folder, containing the Sanctus, he called "3.
Sanctus The ''Sanctus'' (, "Holy") is a hymn in Christian liturgy. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' (, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition and parts of it are sometimes called "Benedictus". ''Tersanctus'' (Latin: "Thr ...
"; and the remainder, in a fourth folder he titled "4. Osanna , Benedictus ,
Agnus Dei is the Latin name under which the "Lamb of God" is honoured within Christian liturgies descending from the historic Latin liturgical tradition, including those of Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism. It is the name given to a spec ...
et , Dona nobis pacem". John Butt writes, "The format seems purposely designed so that each of the four sections could be used separately." On the other hand, the parts in the manuscript are numbered from 1 to 4, and Bach's usual closing formula (S.D.G =
Soli Deo Gloria ' (S.D.G.) is a Latin term for Glory to God alone. It has been used by artists like Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, and Christoph Graupner to signify that the work was produced for the sake of praising God in Christianity, God ...
) is only found at the end of the ''Dona Nobis Pacem''. Further, Butt writes, "What is most remarkable about the overall shape of the Mass in B Minor is that Bach managed to shape a coherent sequence of movements from diverse material." ButtJohn Butt, Bach: Mass in B Minor, Cambridge University Press, 1991, pp. 92–101 and George Stauffer detail the ways in which Bach gave overall musical unity to the work. The first overall title given to the work was in the 1790 estate of the recently deceased C.P.E. Bach, who inherited the score. There, it is called "Die Grosse Catholische Messe" (the "Great Catholic Mass"). It is called that as well in the estate of his last heir in 1805, suggesting to Stauffer that "the epithet reflects an oral tradition within the Bach family". The first publication of the Kyrie and Gloria, in 1833 by the Swiss collector
Hans Georg Nägeli Hans Georg Nägeli (26 May 1773 – 26 December 1836) was a composer and music publisher. Nägeli was born in Wetzikon, Switzerland. He studied under his father as a child and then opened a private music shop and publishing firm in the 1790s. I ...
with Simrock, refers to it as "Messe" Finally, Nageli and Simrock produced the first publication in 1845, calling it the "High Mass in B Minor" (''Hohe Messe in h-moll''). The adjective "high", Butt argues, was "strongly influenced by the monumental impact of Beethoven's
Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass.Mass
, ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. N.p., Appleton, 1910. 797. and is a genre of < ...
." It soon fell from common usage, but the prepositional phrase "in B Minor" survives, even though it is in some ways misleading: only five of the work's 27 movements are in B minor, while twelve, including the final ones of each of the four major sections, are in D major (the
relative major In music, 'relative keys' are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures (enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all of the same notes but are arranged in a different order of whole steps and half steps. A pair of m ...
of B minor). The opening Kyrie, however, is in B minor, with the Christe Eleison in D major, and the second Kyrie in F-sharp minor; as Butt points out, these tonalities outline a B minor chord.


Orchestration

The piece is orchestrated for two
flutes The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
, two oboes d'amore (doubling on
oboes The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...
), two bassoons, one
natural horn The natural horn is a musical instrument that is the predecessor to the modern-day (French) horn (differentiated by its lack of valves). Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the natural horn evolved as a separation from the tr ...
(in D), three natural trumpets (in D),
timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...
, violins I and II,
violas The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
and
basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...
(cellos, basses, bassoons, organ and harpsichord). A third oboe is required for the Sanctus.


Performance history


In Bach's lifetime

Bach conducted the Sanctus, in its first version, at the 1724 Christmas service in Leipzig, and re-used it in Christmas services in the mid-1740s. Scholars differ on whether he ever performed the 1733 Missa.
Arnold Schering Arnold Schering (2 April 1877 in Breslau, German Empire – 7 March 1941 in Berlin) was a German musicologist. He grew up in Dresden as the son of an art publisher. He learned violin at the from which he graduated in 1896. Thereafter he studied ...
(in 1936) asserted that it was performed in Leipzig on April 26, 1733, when Augustus III of Poland visited the town, but modern scholars reject his argument for several reasons: # the proposed date fell during an official period of mourning "when concerted music was forbidden in Saxon churches"; # the extant parts (on which Schering based his hypothesis) are written on a paper found only in documents in Dresden, so were probably copied in Dresden when Bach went there in July; and # the copyists were not Bach's usual ones, but Bach and immediate family members who traveled with him to Dresden: his wife
Anna Magdalena ''Anna Magdalena'' () is a 1998 Hong Kong romantic fantasy comedy film starring Aaron Kwok, Kelly Chen and Takeshi Kaneshiro. It was the directorial debut of production designer Yee Chung-Man. Title The title refers to the keyboard piece ...
, and sons Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel. It also appears that the Bach family employed a copyist in Dresden to assist them. Scholars differ, however, on whether the Missa was performed in July in Dresden. Christoph Wolff argues that on July 26, 1733, at the Sophienkirche in Dresden, where Wilhelm Friedemann Bach had been organist since June, it "was definitely performed ... as evidenced by the extant Dresden performing parts and by the inscription on the title wrapper" given to the king the next day.
Hans-Joachim Schulze Hans-Joachim Schulze (born 3 December 1934) is a German musicologist, a Bach scholar who served as the director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig from 1992 to 2000. With Christoph Wolff, he was editor of the ''Bach-Jahrbuch'' (Bach yearbook) from 19 ...
made this case by pointing to the use of the past tense in the wrapper's inscription: "To his royal majesty was shown with the enclosed Missa ... the humble devotion of the author J. S. Bach." However, Joshua Rifkin rejects the argument, pointing out that the past-tense wording was typical of formal address often not related to performance. Also skeptical is Peter Williams, who notes that "there is no record of performers being assembled for such an event, and in August 1731 Friedemann reported that the Sophienkirche organ was badly out of tune." However, there is evidence of an
organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...
recital by Bach at the Sophienkirche on 14 September 1731, and Friedemann Bach was only chosen as Organist for the institution on 23 June 1733. He would again perform a 2-hour Organ recital on 1 December 1736 at the Frauenkirche Dresden to inaugurate the new
Gottfried Silbermann Gottfried Silbermann (January 14, 1683 – August 4, 1753) was a German builder of keyboard instruments. He built harpsichords, clavichords, organ (music), organs, and fortepianos; his modern reputation rests mainly on the latter two. Life Very ...
organ. Scholars agree that no other public performances took place in Bach's lifetime, although Butt raises the possibility that there may have been a private performance or read-through of the Symbolum Nicenum late in Bach's life.


Later 18th century

The first public performance of the Symbolum Nicenum section (under the title "Credo or Nicene Creed") took place 36 years after Bach's death, in Spring of 1786, led by his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach at a benefit concert for the Medical Institute for the Poor in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. One of Bach’s admirers,
Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
, had a copy of the work along with '' The Well Tempered Clavier''.


19th century

As recounted by George Stauffer, the next documented performance (not public) in the nineteenth century was when Carl Friedrich Zelter—a key figure in the 19th-century Bach revival—led the Berlin Singakademie in read-throughs of the "Great Mass" in 1811, covering the Kyrie; in 1813 he led read-throughs of the entire work. The first public performance in the century—of just the Credo section—took place in Frankfurt in March, 1828, with over 200 performers and many instrumental additions. In the same year in Berlin,
Gaspare Spontini Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini (14 November 177424 January 1851) was an Italian opera composer and conductor from the classical era. During the first two decades of the 19th century, Spontini was an important figure in French ''opera'', and ...
led the Credo section, adding 15 new choral parts and numerous instruments. A number of performances of sections of the Mass took place in the following decades in Europe, but the first attested public performance of the Mass in its entirety took place in 1859 in Leipzig, with Karl Riedel and the Riedel-Verein. The first performance of the Mass in the UK was given by The Bach Choir, newly formed for this purpose by conductor Otto Goldschmidt, in 1876 in St James's Hall, London.


20th century

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem The Bach Choir of Bethlehem is the oldest Bach choir in the United States. Dating back to 1712, according to the choir's archives, it was formally founded in 1898 by Central Moravian Church organist John Frederick Wolle, and was established at r ...
performed the American premiere of the complete Mass on March 27, 1900, in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...
, though there is evidence that parts of the Mass had been performed in the United States as early as 1870. From early in the century, authors such as
Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was a German and French polymath from Alsace. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. As a Lutheran minister, ...
, Arnold Schering, and Frederick Smend called for smaller performance forces, and experiments with (relatively) smaller groups began in the late 1920s. The first complete recording of the work was made in 1929, with a large choir and the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
led by Albert Coates. As of 2022, a database lists over 350 complete recordings with many different types of forces and performance styles. The work has played a central role in the 'historical performance movement' :
Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, known for his historically informed performances. He specialized in music of the Baroque period, but later extended his repertoire to include Classical ...
made the first recording with "period instruments" in 1968, his second Bach choral recording. Joshua Rifkin's first recording using the one-voice-per-part vocal scoring he proposes was made in 1982, and won a 1983 Gramophone Award.


Significance

The Mass in B minor is widely regarded as one of the supreme achievements of
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
. Alberto Basso summarizes the work as follows:
The Mass in B minor is the consecration of a whole life: started in 1733 for "diplomatic" reasons, it was finished in the very last years of Bach's life, when he had already gone blind. This monumental work is a synthesis of every stylistic and technical contribution the Cantor of Leipzig made to music. But it is also the most astounding spiritual encounter between the worlds of Catholic glorification and the Lutheran cult of the cross.
Scholars have suggested that the Mass in B minor belongs in the same category as ''The Art of Fugue'', as a summation of Bach's deep lifelong involvement with musical tradition—in this case, with choral settings and theology. Bach scholar Christoph Wolff describes the work as representing "a summary of his writing for voice, not only in its variety of styles, compositional devices, and range of sonorities, but also in its high level of technical polish ... Bach's mighty setting preserved the musical and artistic creed of its creator for posterity." The Mass was described in the 19th century by Nägeli as "The Announcement of the Greatest Musical Work of All Times and All People" ("Ankündigung des größten musikalischen Kunstwerkes aller Zeiten und Völker"). Despite being seldom performed, the Mass was appreciated by some of Bach's greatest successors: by the beginning of the 19th century Forkel and
Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
possessed copies.


Autographs and editions

Two autograph sources exist: the parts for the Kyrie and Gloria sections that Bach deposited in Dresden in 1733, and the score of the complete work that Bach compiled in 1748–50, which was inherited by C.P.E. Bach (the autograph has been published in facsimile from the source in the
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin The Berlin State Library (; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany, and a property of the German public cultural organization the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (). Founded i ...
). However, for his 1786 public performance of the Symbolum Nicenum, C.P.E. Bach, as was typical practice in the era, made additions to the autograph score for performance by adding a 28-bar introduction, replacing the now-obsolete oboe d'amore with newer instruments (clarinets, oboes, or violins) and making other changes in instrumentation for his own aesthetic reasons. C.P.E. also wrote in his own solutions to reading some passages made nearly illegible by his father's late-life handwriting problems. For this and other reasons, the Mass in B minor poses a considerable challenge to prospective editors, and substantial variations can be noted in different editions, even critical urtext editions. The
Bach Gesellschaft The German Bach-Gesellschaft (Bach Society) was a society formed in 1850 for the express purpose of publishing the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach without editorial additions. The collected works are known as the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausg ...
edition, edited by Julius Rietz, was published in 1856 based on several sources but without direct access to the autograph. When access was later obtained, the textual problems were so evident that the society published a revised edition the next year. The 1857 edition was the standard for the next century, but was later recognized to be even less accurate than the 1856 version due to inadvertent incorporation of C.P.E. Bach's alterations in the autograph. Similarly, the 1954 edition by Friedrich Smend for the Neue Bach-Ausgabe was shown to have significant faults within five years of publication. Christoph Wolff's edition, published by C.F. Peters in 1997, uses two copies of the 1748–50 manuscript made before C.P.E. Bach's additions to try to reconstruct Bach's original readings, and seeks to recover performance details by using all available sources, including cantata movements that Bach reworked in the B minor Mass. Joshua Rifkin's edition, published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 2006, also seeks to remove the C.P.E. Bach emendations, but differs from Wolff in arguing that the 1748–50 work is, to quote John Butt, "essentially a different entity from the 1733 Missa, and that a combination of the 'best' readings from both does not really correspond to Bach's final (and virtually completed) conception of the work"; Rifkin's version seeks to adhere to this final version. Uwe Wolf's edition, published by Bärenreiter in 2010, relies upon x-ray spectrograph technology to differentiate J.S. Bach's handwriting from the additions made by C.P.E. Bach and others. Ulrich Leisinger's edition, published by Carus in 2014, accepts some of C.P.E. Bach's revisions and uses the 1733 Dresden parts as the primary source for the Kyrie and Gloria.


Movements and their origins

The work consists of 27 sections. Tempo and metrical information and parodied cantata sources come from Christoph Wolff's 1997 critical urtext edition, and from George Stauffer's ''Bach: The Mass in B Minor''. except where noted. Regarding sources, Stauffer, summarizing current research as of 1997, states that "Specific models or fragments can be pinpointed for eleven of the work's twenty-seven movements" and that "two other movements he "Domine Deus" and "Et resurrexit"are most probably derived from specific, now lost sources." But Stauffer adds "there is undoubtedly much more borrowing than this." Exceptions are the opening four bars of the first Kyrie, the ''Et incarnatus est'' and ''Confiteor''. Butt points out that "only with a musical aesthetic later than Bach's does the concept of parody (adapting existing vocal music to a new text) appear in an unfavourable light" while it was "almost unavoidable" in Bach's day. He further notes that "by abstracting movements from what he evidently considered some of his finest vocal works, originally performed for specific occasions and Sundays within the Church's year, he was doubtless attempting to preserve the pieces within the more durable context of the Latin Ordinary." Details of the parodied movements and their sources are given below.


I. Kyrie and Gloria ("Missa")

# ''
Kyrie eleison ', a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of ('' Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, , "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greek , ...
'' (1st) ::Five-part chorus (Soprano I & II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Adagio (in the four-bar choral introduction) and then Largo in the main section with an autograph time signature of or common time. :: Joshua Rifkin argues that, except for the opening four bars, the movement is based on a previous version in C minor, since examination of autograph sources reveals "a number of apparent transposition errors".Joshua Rifkin, "The B-Minor Mass and its Performance", liner notes to Rifkin's recording of the work, Nonesuch 79036-2, 1982 John Butt concurs: "Certainly, much of the movement—like many others with no known models—seems to have been copied from an earlier version." Butt raises the possibility that the opening four bars were originally for instruments alone, but Gergely Fazekas details a case, based on manuscript, historical context, and musical structure, that "Bach might have composed the present introduction in a simpler form for the original C minor version" but "might have made the inner texture denser only for the 1733 B minor version." #
  • ''Christe eleison'' ::Duet (Soprano I & II) in
    D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...
    with
    obbligato In Western classical music, ''obbligato'' (, also spelled ''obligato'') usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking '' ad libitum''. It can also be used, more specifically, to ind ...
    violins, no autograph tempo marking, time signature of . #
  • ''Kyrie eleison'' (2nd) ::Four-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in
    F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...
    , marked
    alla breve ''Alla breve'' also known as cut time or cut common timeis a Meter (music), musical meter notated by the time signature symbol (a C) with a vertical line through it, which is the equivalent of . The term is Italian language, Italian for "on t ...
    , and (in the 1748–50 score) "stromenti in unisono". Autograph time signature is . George Stauffer points out (p. 49) that "the four-part vocal writing ... points to a model conceived outside the context of a five-voice Mass." Note the nine (trinitarian, 3 × 3) movements that follow with a largely symmetrical structure, and the ''Domine Deus'' in the centre. #
  • ''Gloria in excelsis'' ::Five-part chorus (Soprano I & II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace in the 1733 first violin and cello parts, time signature. In the mid-1740s, Bach reused this as the opening chorus of his cantata ''Gloria in excelsis Deo'', BWV 191. #
  • ''Et in terra pax'' ::Five-part chorus (Soprano I & II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, no autograph tempo marking, time signature of ; in the autographs no double bar separates it from the preceding Gloria section. Again, Bach reused the music in the opening chorus of BWV 191. #
  • ''Laudamus te'' ::
    Aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
    (Soprano II) in
    A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...
    with violin obbligato, no autograph tempo marking, time signature of . William H. Scheide argues that Bach based this movement on the opening aria of a lost wedding cantata of his (for which we now have only the text) ''Sein Segen fliesst daher wie ein Strom'', BWV Anh. I 14 #
  • ''Gratias agimus tibi'' ::Four-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked alla breve, time signature of . The music is a reworking of the second movement of Bach's 1731 Ratswechsel (Town Council Inauguration) cantata ''Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir'', BWV 29, in which the time signature is the number 2 with a slash through it. (Stauffer adds that both may have an earlier common source.) #
  • ''Domine Deus'' ::Duet (soprano I, tenor) in
    G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...
    with flute obbligato and muted strings, no autograph tempo marking, time signature of . The music appears as a duet in BWV 191. ::In the 1733 parts, Bach indicates a "Lombard rhythm" in the slurred two-note figures in the flute part; he does not indicate it in the final score or in BWV 191. Stauffer points out (p. 246) that this rhythm was popular in Dresden in 1733. It is possible that Bach added in the 1733 parts to appeal to tastes at the Dresden court and that he no longer wanted it used in the 1740s, or that he still preferred it but no longer felt it necessary to notate it. #
  • ''Qui tollis peccata mundi'' ::Four-part chorus (Soprano II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked adagio in the two violin 1 parts from 1733 and lente in the cello, continuo, and alto parts from 1733; time signature. No double bar separates it from the preceding movement in the autograph. The chorus is a reworking of the first half of the opening movement of the 1723 cantata ''Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein Schmerz sei'', BWV 46. #
  • ''Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris'' ::Aria (alto) in B minor with
    oboe d'amore The ; (), less commonly (), is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and a more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the mezzo-soprano of the oboe family, betw ...
    obbligato, no autograph tempo marking, time signature. #
  • ''Quoniam tu solus sanctus'' ::Aria (bass) in D major with obbligato parts for solo corno da caccia (hunting horn or Waldhorn) and two bassoons, no autograph tempo marking, time signature. ::Stauffer notes that the unusual scoring shows Bach writing specifically for the strengths of the orchestra in Dresden: while Bach wrote no music for two obbligato bassoons in his Leipzig cantatas, such scoring was common for works others composed in Dresden, "which boasted as many as five bassoonists", and that Dresden was a noted center for horn playing. Peter Damm has argued that Bach designed the horn solo specifically for the Dresden horn soloist Johann Adam Schindler, whom Bach had almost certainly heard in Dresden in 1731. ::Regarding lost original sources, Stauffer says, "A number of writers have viewed the clean appearance of the "Quoniam" and the finely detailed performance instructions in the autograph score as signs that this movement is also a
    parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
    ."Stauffer, ''Bach: the Mass in B Minor'', p. 95 Klaus HafnerKlaus Hafner, "Uber die Herkunft von zwei Satzen der h-Moll-Messe," Bach-Jahrbuch 63 (1977): 55–74 argues that the bassoon lines were, in the original, written for oboe, and that in this original a trumpet, not the horn, was the solo instrument. John Butt agrees, adding as evidence that Bach originally notated both bassoon parts with the wrong clefs, both indicating a range an octave higher than the final version, and then corrected the error, and adding that "oboe parts would almost certainly have been scored with trumpet rather than horn." William H. Scheide has argued in detail that it is a parody of the third movement of the lost wedding cantata ''Sein Segen fliesst daher wie ein Strom'', BWV Anh. I 14 William H. Scheide, "BWV Anh. I 14: A source for parodied arias in the B-Minor Mass?" pp. 69-77 in ''About Bach,'' edited by Gregory G. Butler, George B. Stauffer and Mary Dalton Greer (University of Illinois Press, 2007), , Stauffer, however, entertains the possibility that it may be new music.Stauffer, ''Bach: the Mass in B Minor'', p. 92 #
  • ''Cum Sancto Spiritu'' ::Five-part chorus (Soprano I & II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace, time signature. ::Bach reused the music in modified form as the closing chorus of BWV 191. As to origins, Donald Francis Tovey argued that it is based on a lost choral movement from which Bach removed the opening instrumental
    ritornello A ritornello (Italian; "little return") is a recurring passage in Renaissance music and Baroque music for orchestra or chorus. Early history The earliest use of the term "ritornello" in music referred to the final lines of a fourteenth-century ...
    , saying "I am as sure as I can be of anything". Hafner agrees, and like Tovey, has offered a reconstruction of the lost ritornello; he also points to notational errors (again involving clefs) suggesting that the lost original was in four parts, and that Bach added the Soprano II line when converting the original into the ''Cum Sancto Spiritu'' chorus. Rifkin argues from the neat handwriting in the instrumental parts of the final score that the movement is based on a lost original, and he argues from the musical structure, which involves two fugues, that the original was probably a lost cantata from the middle or late 1720s, when Bach was especially interested in such structures. Stauffer is agnostic on the question.


    II. Credo ("Symbolum Nicenum")

    Note the nine movements with the symmetrical structure and the crucifixion at the centre. # ''Credo in unum Deum'' ::Five-part chorus (Soprano I & II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in A Mixolydian, no autograph tempo marking, . Stauffer identifies an earlier ''Credo in unum Deum'' chorus in G major, probably from 1748 to 1749. #
  • ''Patrem omnipotentem'' ::Four-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, no autograph tempo marking, time signature of 2 with a slash through it in the autograph manuscript. The music is a reworking of the opening chorus of ''Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm'', BWV 171. #
  • ''Et in unum Dominum'' ::Duet (soprano I, alto) in G major, marked Andante, . Stauffer derives it from a "lost duet, considered for "Ich bin deine", BWV 213/11 (1733). Original version also included "Et incarnatus est"; the two movements were split when Bach put together the complete ''Missa'' in 1748–49. #
  • '' Et incarnatus est'' ::Five-part chorus (Soprano I & II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, no autograph tempo marking, time signature. Wolff among others argues that the "Et incarnatus est" movement was Bach's last significant composition. #
  • '' Crucifixus'' ::Four-part chorus (Soprano II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in
    E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp, on the F. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: Change ...
    , no autograph tempo marking, time signature. The music is a reworking of the first section of the first chorus of the 1714 cantata ''Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen'', BWV 12. #
  • ''Et resurrexit'' ::Five-part chorus (Soprano I & II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, no autograph tempo marking, time signature,
    polonaise The polonaise (, ; , ) is a dance originating in Poland, and one of the five Polish folk dances#National Dances, Polish national dances in Triple metre, time. The original Polish-language name of the dance is ''chodzony'' (), denoting a walki ...
    rhythms. #
  • ''Et in Spiritum Sanctum'' ::Aria (Bass) in A major with oboi d'amore obbligati, no autograph tempo marking, time signature. William H. Scheide has argued that it is a parody of the sixth movement of the lost wedding cantata ''Sein Segen fließt daher wie ein Strom'', BWV Anh. I 14 (= BWV 1144). Stauffer, however, entertains the possibility that it may be new music. #
  • ''Confiteor'' ::Five-part chorus (Soprano I & II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in F minor, no autograph tempo marking (until the transitional music in bar 121, which is marked "adagio"), time signature. ::John Butt notes that "the only positive evidence of Bach actually composing afresh within the entire score of the mass is in the 'Confiteor' section", by which he means, "composing the music directly into the autograph. Even the most unpracticed eye can see the difference between this and surrounding movements"; one part of the final transitional music is "still illegible ... and necessitates the conjectures of a judicious editor." #
  • ''Et expecto'' ::Five-part chorus (Soprano I & II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace ed allegro, implicitly in (as it is not set off with a double bar in the autograph from the Confiteor). The music is a reworking of the second movement of Bach's 1728 town council inauguration () cantata ''Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille'', BWV 120 on the words ''Jauchzet, ihr erfreute Stimmen''.


    III. Sanctus

    #''Sanctus'' ::Six-part chorus (Soprano I & II, Alto I & II, Tenor, Bass) in D major, no autograph tempo marking, time signature; leading immediately—without double bar in the sources—into the ''Pleni sunt coeli'', marked Vivace, time signature. Derived from an earlier three soprano and one alto work written in 1724 and repeated and altered slightly on Easter 1727; in that 1724/1727 ''Sanctus'' the first section was marked in , perhaps suggesting a tempo faster than what Bach conceived of when he finally re-used it in the Mass.


    IV. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei and Dona Nobis Pacem

    # ''Osanna'' ::Double chorus (both four parts) in D major, no autograph tempo marking, time signature. A reworking of the A section of the chorus ''Es lebe der König'', BWV Anh. 11/1 (1732) or ''Preise dein Glücke'', BWV 215 (1734). #
  • ''Benedictus'' ::Aria for tenor with obbligato instrument (Flute or Violin) in B minor, no autograph tempo marking, time signature. ::Butt writes that Bach "forgot to specify the instrument" for the obbligato; Stauffer adds the possibilities that Bach had not decided which instrument to use or that he was "indifferent" and left the choice open. The Bach-Ausgabe edition assigned it to the violin, and Stauffer suggests this choice may have been influenced by Beethoven's use of the violin in the Benedictus of his ''
    Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass.Mass
    , ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. N.p., Appleton, 1910. 797. and is a genre of < ...
    ''. Modern editors and performers have preferred the flute; as Butt notes, the part never uses the G-string of the violin, and modern commentators "consider the range and style to be more suitable for the
    transverse flute A transverse flute or side-blown flute is a flute which is held horizontally when played.Powell, A. (2001). Transverse flute. Grove Music Online. Retrieved 6 Feb. 2024 The player blows across the embouchure hole, in a direction perpendicular to ...
    ." ::William H. Scheide has argued that it is a parody of the fourth movement of the lost wedding cantata ''Sein Segen fliesst daber wie ein Strom'', BWV Anh. I 14, for which the text begins "Ein Mara weicht von dir" Stauffer, however, entertains the possibility that it may be new music. #
  • ''Osanna (da capo)'' ::As above. #
  • ''Agnus Dei'' ::Aria for alto in
    G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. The G natural minor scale is: Changes n ...
    with violin obbligato, no autograph tempo marking, time signature. Parody of an aria, "Entfernet euch, ihr kalten Herzen" ("Withdraw, you cold hearts"), from a lost wedding serenade (1725). Bach also re-used the wedding aria for the alto aria, "Ach, bleibe doch", of his 1735 Ascension Oratorio ''Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen'', BWV 11; Alfred Dürr has demonstrated that Bach adapted both "Ach, bleibe doch" and the Agnus dei directly from the lost serenade's aria, rather than from one to the next.Alfred Dürr, ""Enfernet euch, ihr kalten Herzen": Moglichkeiten und Grenzen der Rekonstruktionen einer Bach-Arie" Musikforschung 39 (1986): pp. 32–36 #
  • ' ::Four-part chorus in D major, no autograph tempo marking, time signature. The music is almost identical to "Gratias agimus tibi" from the ''Gloria''.


    Recordings

    As of 2022, 354 recordings are listed on the Bach Cantatas Website, beginning with the first recording by a symphony orchestra and choir to match, conducted by Albert Coates. Beginning in the late 1960s,
    historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...
    s paved the way for recordings with smaller groups, boys choirs and ensembles playing "period instruments", and eventually to recordings using the one-voice-on-a-vocal-part scoring first argued for by Joshua Rifkin in 1982.


    See also

    * Mass in B minor structure * Mass in B minor discography


    References


    External links


    Mass in B minor
    performance by the
    Netherlands Bach Society The Netherlands Bach Society () is the oldest ensemble for Baroque music in the Netherlands, and possibly in the world. The ensemble was founded in 1921 in Naarden to perform Bach's ''St Matthew Passion'' on Good Friday and has performed the work ...
    (video and background information)
    Bach-cantatas.com
    Text (and its translation in several languages), details, list of recordings, reviews, and wide-ranging discussions. * *Free scores of this work in the
    Choral Public Domain Library The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL), also known as the ChoralWiki, is an online database for choral and vocal music. Its contents primarily include sheet music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing ...
    (ChoralWiki).
    Jsbach.org
    List of recommended recordings. *Timothy A. Smith (Northern Arizona University),
    Bach's Mass in B Minor as a Musical Icon
    . Lecture at the
    Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...
    in 1995.
    Mass in B Minor
    (Flash) at the Oregon Bach Festival. * {{Authority control Masses by Johann Sebastian Bach 1749 compositions Compositions in B minor