Mass in b minor, BWV 232

Composer: BACH, Johann Sebastian
  • Bach’s B minor Mass started life as a work consisting of a Kyrie and Gloria (the first two sections of a full Catholic mass) which Bach offered to the new Elector of Saxony, Friedrich August III, on July 27, 1733. That version is known as BWV 232I.1
    • This is an example of a Kyrie-Gloria mass, also known as a Lutheran mass. In Bach’s time, a mass setting with only the Kyrie and Gloria was equally marketable Lutheran or Catholic clients.2
    • An existing set of parts indicates that BWV 232I premiered in Dresden in 1733. It was probably performed at the Sophienkirche (St. Sophia Church) in Dresden: Bach’s eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was organist there.
    • Bach’s dedication of BWV 232I indicates that Bach was hoping for an honorary title at the Elector’s court in Dresden. Bach did eventually receive the title of Hofkomponist (Distinguished Composer) at the court. Bach offered a well-received organ recital at the Dresden Frauenkirche on December 1, 1736 to celebrate this new title.
  • In 1747-9 (as he was nearing the end of his life), Bach added a Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei to his 1733 Missa, to create a complete Catholic mass setting, his B minor Mass. Scholars have not found any commission for this work, and it would have been much too long and complex for an average church service, so it is generally thought that Bach created his B minor Mass for his own satisfaction, perhaps as a valedictory work. The work reflects the many genres and compositional techniques Bach perfected throughout his career.3
    • Most of the B minor Mass was assembled and adapted from music Bach had already written by 1747-9. For example, the “Sanctus” had already premiered on Christmas Day, 1724.
    • The complete B minor Mass was not performed during Bach’s lifetime.

Sources

  1. Christoph Wolff and Walter Emery, “Bach, Johann Sebastian,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed January 12, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-6002278195
  2. Christoph Wolff, Bach: The Learned Musician (UK: Oxford University Press, 2002), 369.
  3. Wolff and Emery, “Bach, Johann Sebastian,” Grove Music Online.

Cut IDs

46248 46957 44989 49367 49368 10550 11598 10924 12339 13731