Mass in B Minor

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The Mass in B minor (BWV 232) is a musical setting of the Latin Mass by Johann Sebastian Bach. Although parts of the Mass in B minor date to 1724, the whole was assembled in its present form in 1749, just before the composer's death in 1750.

Contents

[edit] Background and context of the Mass in B minor

Interestingly, Bach did not give the work a title; instead, in the score the four parts of the Latin Mass are each given their own title page—"Kyrie", "Gloria", "Symbolum Nicenum" (otherwise known as the "Credo"), and "Sanctus, Hosanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei"—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 any case, the Mass presents a powerful and unified musical experience. Due to its length—nearly two hours of music—it was never performed in its enitrety as part of a church liturgy. After Bach's death, his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach performed the Gloria section (but not the entire Mass) in Berlin. Large-scale performances of the entire Mass in B minor were not staged until the 19th century, the first of which was in 1859. The Bach Choir of Bethlehem debuted the Mass in America in on March 27, 1900 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

One commentator summarises 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. (A. Basso)."[1]

Bach was a committed Lutheran, but to compose a Latin Mass of this magnitude, part of the traditional liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, is only superficially odd. As arguably the greatest of religious composers, he was preoccupied with the heart of the Christian mystery. Luther had admitted the Kyrie and Gloria as part of Protestant ritual, and Bach produced four short masses (comprising these two sections only) for liturgical use[2]

[edit] Chronology

According to Mellers the chronology of the sections of the Mass is obscure. It seems that[3]:

  • 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 Feb 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 dates 27th July 1733, in the hope of obtaining the title, "Electoral Saxon Court Composer", complaining that he had "inocently suffered one injury or another" in Leipzig[4]. They were probably performed in 1733, perhaps at the Sophienkirche in Dresden where W F Bach had been organist since June[5], though not in the presence of their dedicatees. However in 1734 Bach performed a cantata in honour of Augustus in the presence of the King and Queen whose first movement was the same music as the Osanna[6]
  • The Credo may have been written in 1732
  • In 1747 or 1748 Bach copied out, in noble caligraphy, the whole score.

Although only a few of the pieces in the work can be specifically identified as being reused from earlier music, some scholars such as Joshua Rifkin believe that the majority of the music was reused (primarily due to manuscript evidence and compositional models). The only exception to this is the opening 4 bars of the first Kyrie, and the Confiteor section of the Credo, which both contain erasures and corrections on the manuscript. Details of the parodied movements and their sources are listed in the movement listing.

[edit] Status

It is suggested that the piece belongs in the same category as the Art of Fugue as a summation of Bach's deep lifelong involvement in choral settings and theology. It is generally regarded as one of the supreme achievements of "classical" music. It was also greatly admired by Beethoven whose own Missa Solemnis was composed in part to stand alongside it.

In the Sanctus Bach changes the standard liturgical text. Whereas the Mass has "holy Lord ... heaven and earth are full of your glory" Bach goes back to the Biblical source of this in Isaiah where the angels sing: "heaven and earth are full of his glory" and instead of the worship of a congregation on earth, paints a picture of the choirs of heaven.

[edit] Structure of the work

  • I. Kyrie
    • Kyrie eleison (1st) 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Adagio, Largo C (4/4)* time
    • Christe eleison Duet (soprano I,II) in D major with obbligato violins, marked Andante C time
    • Kyrie eleison (2nd) 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in F# minor, marked Allegro moderato 2/2 time "alla breve" (split C in BGA)
  • II. Gloria - note the 9 (trinitarian, 3 x 3) movements with the largely symmetrical structure, and Domine Deus in the centre.
    • Gloria in excelsis 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace 3/8 time. The music was reused as the opening chorus of Bach's Cantata BWV 191.
    • Et in terra pax 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Andante C time. Again the music was reused as the opening chorus of BWV 191.
    • Laudamus teAria (soprano II) in A major with violin obbligato, marked Andante C time
    • Gratias agimus tibi 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro moderato split C time alla breve. The music is a reworking of the second movement of Bach's Ratwechsel Cantata BWV 29.
    • Domine Deus Duet (soprano I, tenor) in G major, marked Andante C time. The music is reused as the duet from Cantata BWV 191.
    • 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 Cantata BWV 46.
    • Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris Aria (alto) in B minor with oboe d'amore obbligato, marked Andante commodo 6/8 time
    • Quoniam tu solus sanctus Aria (bass) in D major with corno da caccia obbligato, marked Andante lento 3/4 time
    • Cum Sancto Spiritu 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace 3/4 time. The music is reused 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.
    • Credo in unum Deum 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in A mixolydian, marked Moderato cut time alla breve
    • Patrem omnipotentem 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro split C time. The music is a reworking of the opening chorus of Cantata BWV 171.
    • Et in unum Dominum Duet (soprano I, alto) in G major, marked Andante C time
    • Et incarnatus est5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Andante maestoso 3/4 time
    • 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 Cantata BWV 12.
    • Et resurrexit 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro 3/4 time
    • Et in Spiritum Sanctum Aria (bass) in A major with oboi d'amore obbligati, marked Andantino 6/8 time
    • Confiteor 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in F# minor, marked Moderato, Adagio split C time
    • Et expecto 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace ed allegro split C time. The music is a reworking of the second movement (chorus) of Bach's Ratwechsel cantata BWV 120.
  • IV. Sanctus, Hosanna, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei
    • Sanctus 6-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto I, II, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Largo C time, Vivace 3/8 time. Derived from an earlier, now lost, 3 soprano, 1 alto work written in 1724.
    • Hosanna 8-part (double) chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto I, II, Tenor I, II, Bass I, II) 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 themselves.
    • Benedictus Aria for tenor in B minor with flute obbligato, marked Andante 3/4 time
    • Hosanna (da capo) 8-part (double) chorus in D major as above
    • Agnus Dei Aria for alto in G minor with violin obbligato, marked Adagio 4/4 time. Derives from an aria of a lost wedding cantata (1725) which Bach also re-used as the alto aria of his Ascension Oratorio (BWV 11) but as the two different surviving versions are markedly different, it is thought they share a common model.
    • Dona nobis pacem 4-part chorus in D major, marked Moderato cut time alla breve music is same as Gratias agimus tibi from Gloria
  • NB Bach's notation is for C - common time- to indicate the modern 4/4, and split C (letter C with vertical line through it) to indicate the modern 2/2. This notation was commonplace in that time.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Harmonia Mundi
  2. ^ Wilfrid Mellers Bach and the Dance of God p160
  3. ^ Mellers, Op. Cit. p161 except for "who..council" which comes from the original Wikipedia article but sounds pretty plausible
  4. ^ Bach Reader p128 gives a translation of the letter
  5. ^ The details added in this section are from The New Grove: Bach Family, p 99
  6. ^ The Bach Reader p 132

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