Mass in B minor

Johann Sebastian Bach

The Mass in B minor (BWV 232) is a musical setting of the complete Latin Mass by Johann Sebastian Bach. The work was one of Bach's last, although much of it was made of music that Bach had composed earlier. Bach assembled the Mass in its present form in 1749, just before his death in 1750. The Sanctus of the Mass in B minor dates back to 1724 (and the model for one parody even to 1714). The Kyrie and Gloria had been composed as a Lutheran Missa in 1733 for the Elector of Saxony at Dresden. To complete the work, however, Bach composed new sections of the Credo such as Et incarnatus est. These were his last major compositions.

It was unusual for composers working in the Lutheran tradition to compose a Missa tota and Bach's motivations remain a matter of scholarly debate. The Mass was most probably never performed in totality during Bach's lifetime, and the work largely disappeared in the 18th century. Several performances in the early 19th century, however, sparked a revival both of the piece and the larger rediscovery of Bach's music. Today, it is widely hailed as a monumental work of the late Baroque and is frequently performed.^{[citation needed]}

Background and context

Bach did not give the work a title; instead, in the score four parts of the Latin Mass are each given their own title page—"Missa" (consisting of the Kyrie and Gloria), "Symbolum Nicenum" (the profession of faith or Credo), "Sanctus", and "Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem"—and simply bundled together. Indeed, the different sections call for different numbers and arrangements of performers, giving rise to the theory that Bach did not ever expect the work to be performed in its entirety. 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) is only found at the end of the Dona Nobis Pacem.

In 1733 Bach had composed a Lutheran Missa (Kyrie and Gloria) for the court of Dresden. Although he was a committed Lutheran, it is uncertain whether he composed it for the Lutheran liturgy or composed it for the Elector of Saxony who had just been elected king of Poland and therefore had to convert to Catholicism.

Early in 1733 Augustus II, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, died. Five months of mourning followed, during which all public music-making was temporarily 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, a Catholic, and by doing so to hope to improve his own standing. On its completion, Bach visited Augustus and presented him with a copy of the Missa, together with a petition to be given a court title, dated July 27, 1733. The petition did not meet with immediate success, but Bach did eventually get his title: he was made court composer to Augustus in 1736.

Some scholars have assumed that the Missa was first performed in Leipzig in April, 1733 during the festival of the Oath of Allegiance to Augustus III. It consisted of settings of the Kyrie and Gloria that now comprise the first part of the Mass in B minor. There is, however, no proof for this assumption and no manuscript parts for a performance in Leipzig exist.

The performance material Bach submitted to Augustus on July 27, 1733 was written on Dresden-made paper, in the hand of Bach, his wife Anna Magdalena, sons Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, and a Dresden copyist. This suggests the piece was written out in Dresden by the Bach family for a July performance in the Sophienkirche (where Wilhelm Friedemann was organist), or perhaps the Hofkirche im Theater.^[1]

Bach composed four Missae for liturgical use around 1738/39. At what point Bach decided to expand the 1733 Missa into a complete setting of the Catholic Mass is not known. Some researchers believe that parts of the Symbolum Nicenum (or the Credo) were composed between 1742 and 1745. The Sanctus was composed for Christmas 1724. The remaining parts were added in the late 1740s.^[2] The last movement to be added was Et incarnatus est. The words had been included in the preceding duet, but then Bach treated them as a separate movement for the choir, giving them extra weight and improving the symmetry of the Credo.^[3]

Wolfgang Osthoff and other scholars have suggested that Bach assembled the Missa Tota for performance at the dedication of the new Hofkirche in Dresden, 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'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.)^[4]

Chronology

The first page of the "Credo".

According to Mellers, the chronology of the sections of the Mass is obscure.^[5]

• The Sanctus was composed in 1724
• The Kyrie and Gloria were composed in 1733, the former as a lament for the decease of Elector Augustus the Strong (who had died on 1 February 1733) and the latter to celebrate the accession of his successor the Saxon Elector and later Polish King Augustus III of Poland, who converted to Catholicism in order to ascend the throne of Poland. Bach presented these as a Missa with a set of parts (Kyrie plus Gloria, BWV 232a) to Augustus with a note dated 27 July 1733, in the hope of obtaining the title, "Electoral Saxon Court Composer", complaining that he had "innocently suffered one injury or another" in Leipzig.^[6] They were probably performed in 1733, perhaps at the Sophienkirche in Dresden, where Wilhelm Friedemann Bach had been organist since June,^[7] though not in the presence of their dedicatees. However in 1734, Bach performed a secular cantata dramma per musica in honour of Augustus in the presence of the King and Queen whose first movement was the same music as the Osanna^[8]
• The movements of the Credo were composed at different times, up to the late 1740s.
• In 1747 or 1748 Bach copied out, in noble calligraphy, the whole score.

Although only some movements of the work can be specifically identified as being reused from earlier music, some scholars such as Joshua Rifkin believe, on the basis of manuscript evidence and compositional models, that the majority of the music was reused.^[9] Exceptions are the opening four bars of the first Kyrie,^[10] and sections of the Credo, Credo I, Et incarnatus est and Confiteor. Erasures and corrections on the manuscript make this evident.^[11] Details of the parodied movements and their sources are listed in the movement listing.

Status

The Mass in B minor is widely regarded as one of the supreme achievements of classical music. 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.".^[12]

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."^[13]

The Mass was announced in the 19th century by the editor Hans Georg Nägeli as "The Greatest Artwork of All Times and All People" ("Ankündigung des größten musikalischen Kunstwerkes aller Zeiten und Völker").^[14] Even though it had never been performed, its importance was appreciated by some of Bach's greatest successors—by the beginning of the 19th century Forkel and Haydn possessed copies, and Beethoven made two attempts to acquire a score.^[15]

C. P. E. Bach made annotations and corrections to his father's manuscript of the Mass, while also adding emendations and revisions of his own.^[16] 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. The manuscript is in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin^[17]

Structure of the work

The work consists of 27 sections.

I. Kyrie

1. Kyrie eleison (1st). 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Adagio, Largo, common time.^[18]
2. Christe eleison. Duet (soprano I,II) in D major with obbligato violins, marked Andante, common time.
3. Kyrie eleison (2nd). 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in F# minor, marked Allegro moderato, cut-common time ("alla breve").

II. Gloria

Note the 9 (trinitarian, 3 x 3) movements with the largely symmetrical structure, and Domine Deus in the centre.

1. Gloria in excelsis. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace, 3/8 time. The music appears also as the opening chorus of Bach's Cantata Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191.
2. Et in terra pax. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Andante, common time. Again the music also appears in the opening chorus of BWV 191.
3. Laudamus te. Aria (soprano II) in A major with violin obbligato, marked Andante, common time.
4. Gratias agimus tibi. 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro moderato, cut-common time. The music is a reworking of the second movement of Bach's Ratswechsel cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29.
5. Domine Deus. Duet (soprano I, tenor) in G major, marked Andante common time. The music appears as a duet in BWV 191.
6. Qui tollis peccata mundi. 4-part chorus (Soprano II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Lento, 3/4 time. The chorus is a reworking of the first half of the opening movement of Cantata Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein Schmerz sei, BWV 46.
7. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris. Aria (alto) in B minor with oboe d'amore obbligato, marked Andante commodo, 6/8 time.
8. Quoniam tu solus sanctus. Aria (bass) in D major with corno da caccia obbligato, marked Andante lento, 3/4 time.
9. Cum Sancto Spiritu. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace, 3/4 time. The music appears also in modified form as the closing chorus of BWV 191.

III. Symbolum Nicenum, or Credo

Note the 9 movements with the symmetrical structure, and the crucifixion at the centre.

1. Credo in unum Deum. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in A mixolydian, marked Moderato, cut-common time.
2. Patrem omnipotentem. 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro, cut-common time. The music is a reworking of the opening chorus of Cantata Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171.
3. Et in unum Dominum. Duet (soprano I, alto) in G major, marked Andante, common time.
4. Et incarnatus est. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Andante maestoso, 3/4 time.
5. Crucifixus. 4-part chorus (Soprano II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in E minor, marked Grave, 3/2 time. The music is a reworking of the opening chorus of the cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12.
6. Et resurrexit. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro, 3/4 time.
7. Et in Spiritum Sanctum. Aria (Bass) in A major with oboi d'amore obbligati, marked Andantino, 6/8 time.
8. Confiteor. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in F# minor, marked Moderato, Adagio, cut-common time.
9. Et expecto. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace ed allegro, cut-common time. The music is a reworking of the second movement of Bach's Ratswechsel cantata BWV 120 on the words Jauchzet, ihr erfreute Stimmen.

IV. Sanctus, Hosanna, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei

1. Sanctus. 6-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto I, II, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Largo, common time; Vivace, 3/8 time. Derived from an earlier, now lost, 3 soprano, 1 alto work written in 1724.
2. Hosanna. double chorus (both four parts) in D major, marked Allegro, 3/8 time. A reworking of the opening chorus of BWV 215 — although they may share a common lost model.
3. Benedictus. Aria for tenor with flute obbligato (some later editions use violin obbligato) in B minor, marked Andante, 3/4 time.
4. Hosanna (da capo). as above.
5. Agnus Dei. Aria for alto in G minor with violin obbligato, marked Adagio, common time. Derives from an aria of a lost wedding cantata (1725) which Bach also re-used as the alto aria of his Ascension Oratorio Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11 but as the two different surviving versions are markedly different, it is thought they share a common model.
6. Dona nobis pacem. 4-part chorus in D major, marked Moderato, cut-common time. The music is almost identical to "Gratias agimus tibi" from the Gloria.

Performances

In 1786, thirty-six years after Bach's death, his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach performed the Symbolum Nicenum section (under the title "Credo") at a charity concert in Hamburg.^[19] Scholars believe the Mass was not performed in its entirety until the mid-19th century; according to Bach scholar John Butt, there is "no firm evidence of a complete performance before that of the Riedel-Verein in Leipzig in 1859".^[20]

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem performed the American premiere of the complete Mass on March 27, 1900 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, though there is evidence that parts of the Mass had been performed in the United States as early as 1870.^[21]

Recordings

For selected recordings on period instruments and modern instruments see Mass in B minor discography.

References

1. ^ George F. Stauffer, Bach, the Mass in B Minor: The Great Catholic Mass, Yale University Press, 2003, ISBN 0300099665, ISBN 9780300099669, p. 34.
2. ^ Aylesbury Choral Society, March 2004, Mass in B Minor.
3. ^ Christoph Wolff, h-Moll-Messe, Berlin Philharmonic 12 October 2006
4. ^ Stauffer, pp. 258–59.
5. ^ The following bases on Mellers, p. 161.
6. ^ An English translation of the letter is given in Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel, The Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents, W. W. Norton & Company, 1945, p. 128. (Also in "The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents" revised by Christoph Wolff, W. W. Norton & Co Inc, 1998, ISBN 9780393045581, p. 158.)
7. ^ The details added in this section are from Christoph Wolff "Bach", III, 7 (§8), Grove Music Online ed., L. Macy. Last accessed August 9, 2007.
8. ^ The Bach Reader, p. 132.
9. ^ John Butt, Bach: Mass in B Minor (Cambridge Music Handbooks), Cambridge University Press, 1991, ISBN 9780521387163, p. 42.
10. ^ Butt, p. 44.
11. ^ Butt, p. 56.
12. ^ "The 'Great Mass' in B minor" in the booklet to the recording by Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent, released from Harmonia Mundi, HML5901614.15, 1999.[1]
13. ^ Christoph Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, W. W. Norton & Company, 2000, ISBN 0393322564, pp. 441-42.
14. ^ 'Markus Rathey, 'Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor: The Greatest Artwork of All Times and All People The Tangeman Lecture delivered April 18, 2003
15. ^ John Butt Mass in B Minor—Bach's only complete setting of the latin ordinary of the Mass
16. ^ Butt, Bach: Mass in B Minor, p. 26.
17. ^ Facsimile Announcement
18. ^ Bach's notation C—common time—indicates the modern 4/4, and split C (letter C with vertical line through it) "alla breve", the modern 2/2. This notation was commonplace in that time.
19. ^ Butt, Bach: Mass in B Minor, p. 27.
20. ^ Butt, p. 29
21. ^ Butt, p. 31.

External links

• Bach-cantatas.com Text (and its translation in several languages), details, list of recordings, reviews, and wide-ranging discussions.
• Mass in B minor: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
• Free scores of this work in the Choral Public Domain Library (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 in 1995.
• Mass in B Minor (Flash) at the Oregon Bach Festival.