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.[17]
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
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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 themselves.
3. Benedictus. Aria for tenor with flute 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.
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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.[18] 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".[19]
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.[20]
Recordings
For selected recordings on period instruments and modern instruments see Mass in B Minor recordings.
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] Stauffer, pp. 258–59.
[4] The following bases on Mellers, p. 161.
[5] 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.)
[6] The details added in this section are from Christoph Wolff "Bach", III, 7 (§8), Grove Music Online ed., L. Macy. http://www.grovemusic.
com/. Last accessed August 9, 2007.
[7] The Bach Reader, p. 132.
[8] John Butt, Bach: Mass in B Minor (Cambridge Music Handbooks), Cambridge University Press, 1991, ISBN 9780521387163, p. 42.
[9] Butt, p. 44.
[10] Butt, p. 56.
[11] "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. (http://www.harmoniamundi.com/uk/album_fiche.php?album_id=1130)
[12] Christoph Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, W. W. Norton & Company, 2000, ISBN 0393322564, pp. 441-42.
[13] 'Markus Rathey, 'Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor: The Greatest Artwork of All Times and All People The Tangeman Lecture delivered (http://www.yale.edu/ism/colloq_journal/vol2/rathey1.html) April 18, 2003
[14] John Butt Mass in B Minor — Bach’s only complete setting of the latin ordinary of the Mass (http://www.aam.co.uk/features/9709.htm) [15] Butt, Bach: Mass in B Minor, p. 26.
[16] Facsimile Announcement (http://www.omifacsimiles.com/brochures/bach_bminor.html)
[17] 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.
[18] Butt, Bach: Mass in B Minor, p. 27.
[19] Butt, p. 29 [20] Butt, p. 31.
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External links
• Bach-cantatas.com (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/IndexVocal.htm#BWV232) 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).
• Et in unum Dominum (http://bach.nau.edu/BWV232/EtInUnum.html) as interactive hypermedia at the BinAural Collaborative Hypertext (http://bach.nau.edu/) (theological implications of canon) by Northern Arizona University.
• Jsbach.org (http://www.jsbach.org/232.html) List of recommended recordings.
• Timothy A. Smith (Northern Arizona University), " Bach's Mass in B Minor as a Musical Icon (http://jan.ucc.
nau.edu/~tas3/musicon.html)". Lecture at the Ball State University in 1995.