| Mass in B minor | |
|---|---|
BWV 232 | |
| by J. S. Bach | |
 Autograph of the title page of the first book, Missa | |
| Form | Missa solemnis |
| Related | Bach's Missa of 1733; several movements parodies of cantata movements |
| Text | Latin Mass |
| Composed | 1748?–1749, Leipzig |
| Movements | 27 in 4 parts (12 + 9 + 1 + 5) |
| Vocal | |
| Instrumental |
|
The Mass in B minor is Johann Sebastian Bach's only setting of the complete Latin text of the Ordinarium missae.[1] Towards the end of his life, mainly in 1748 and 1749, he finished composing new sections and compiling it into a complex, unified structure.
Bach structured the work in four parts:[2]
- Missa
- Symbolum Nicenum
- Sanctus
- Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem
The four sections of the manuscript are numbered, and Bach's usual closing formula (S.D.G = Soli Deo Gloria) is found at the end of the "Dona nobis pacem".
Some parts of the mass were used in Latin even in Lutheran Leipzig, and Bach had composed them: five settings of the Missa, containing the Kyrie and the Gloria, and several additional individual settings of the Kyrie and the Sanctus. To achieve the Missa tota, a setting of the complete text of the mass, he combined his most elaborate Missa, the Missa in B minor, written in 1733 for the court in Dresden, and a Sanctus written for Christmas of 1724. He added a few new compositions, but mostly derived movements from cantata movements, in a technique known as parody.
The Mass is a compendium of many different styles in vocal composition, in both the stile antico reminiscent of Renaissance music (even containing Gregorian chant) and the Baroque concertante style of his own time: fugal writing and dances, arias and a movement for two four-part choirs. Similar to architecture of the period, Bach achieved a symmetry of parts, with the profession of faith (Credo) in the center and the Crucifixus in its center. Bach scored the work for five vocal parts (two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass, SSATB). While some choral movements are for only four parts, the Sanctus is scored for six voices (SSAATB), and the Osanna even for two four-part choirs. Bach called for a rich instrumentation of brass, woodwinds and strings, assigning varied obbligato parts to different instruments.