Mass in B minor BWV 232 – Johann Sebastian Bach 

Bach’s Mass in B Minor is undoubtedly his most spectacular choral work. Its combination of sizzling choruses and solo numbers covering the gamut of late-Baroque vocal expression render it one of the most joyous musical experiences in the western tradition. Nevertheless, its identity is teased by countless contradictions: it appears to cover the entire Ordinary of the Catholic Liturgy, but in Bach’s Lutheran environment the complete Latin text was seldom sung as a whole; it seems to have the characteristics of a unified work, yet its origins are perhaps the most diverse for any of Bach’s large scale compositions; it was written in an age when composers generally prepared music for specific occasions, yet we have no firm evidence that the whole work was designed with a performance in mind. Somehow, a mystique grew around the Mass soon after Bach’s death, and C.P.E. Bach performed the Credo section during the 1780s; but it was nearly a century before it was available in print. The first performances in the early decades of the nineteenth century were presented by institutions of which Bach could hardly have conceived – amateur choral societies with a vast number of performers. And, over the last century it has often been at the centre of major disputes in the field of Bach scholarship: the question of its original function, its chronology, the legitimacy of the various manuscripts and, of course, its performance practice.

Even the title ‘Mass in B Minor’ was not applied until the nineteenth century. Bach’s autograph contains four discrete sections: the Kyrie and Gloria are together entitled Missa, these movements being the regular part of the sung Lutheran mass of Bach’s time; the second section is called Symbolum Nicenum – the Nicene Creed. Then follows the Sanctus – again an independent manuscript (a slightly modified version of a pre-existing setting); the fourth section contains the remaining texts of the Mass, ‘Benedictus’ to ‘Dona nobis pacem’. The fact that Bach gave each of these sections separate folders and title pages suggests that if the work were ever performed it would most likely not have been in a single sitting. On the other hand, there are obvious musical coherences suggesting that, in some sense at least, Bach viewed the work as a musical whole. Perhaps he conceived it along the lines of keyboard collections such as the Well-Tempered Clavier, which do not necessarily have to be performed as a whole yet show an obvious overall plan (equally analogous is the Christmas Oratorio, sung on six separate occasions during the Christmas season).

The Sanctus was first performed as an independent work on Christmas Day 1724 and Bach completed the Missa (i.e. Kyrie and Gloria) in 1733, while he was seeking an honorary title from the Elector of Saxony in Dresden; this would have elevated his status back in Leipzig. He took the opportunity occasioned by his son Wilhelm Friedemann’s appointment as organist at the Sophienkirche in Dresden to travel with several family members and present his petition to the Elector in person. He included a beautifully presented set of performing parts as an example of his music, namely the Missa. When measured against some of the music sung in the Catholic liturgy at the Dresden court, Bach’s music is not immoderately proportioned; indeed there are several factors – virtuoso horn writing, florid vocal lines, musical similarities with some of the works sung in Dresden – to suggest that Bach tailored the work to the capabilities and demands of the Dresden musicians.

Bach reused some of the Gloria in Cantata 191, c.1745 – it may well have been this performance (possibly for the Peace of Dresden on Christmas Day), also including a repeat of the Sanctus, that gave Bach the idea of setting the remaining texts of the Latin Ordinary – The Creed, Sanctus/Benedictus and Agnus Dei. The handwriting of the latter movements shows that the composer was severely hampered by physical problems during the last year or so of his life. We still know of no reason for Bach’s final compilation; possibly he intended it – like the Missa – for the court at Dresden, since similar forces are required. Possibly there were events in Leipzig that demanded this sumptuous music (certainly Bach had performed Latin settings of the Creed during the 1740s); some have suggested that it was commissioned by a distant patron. Other reasons – such as Bach’s desire to write a sort of personal memorial, demonstrating his lifelong achievement in modern and historical styles – we can only guess. Quite possibly there was a combination of motives, some practical, some speculative, that led Bach to complete this project.