Most of Johann Sebastian Bach's extant church music in Latin—settings of (parts of) the Mass ordinary and of the Magnificat canticle—dates from his Leipzig period (1723–50). Bach started to assimilate and expand compositions on a Latin text by other composers before his tenure as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, and he continued to do so after he had taken up that post. The text of some of these examples by other composers was a mixture of German and Latin: also Bach contributed a few works employing both languages in the same composition, for example his early .Bach Digital Work
The bulk of Bach's sacred music, many hundreds of compositions such as his church cantatas, motets, Passions, oratorios, four-part chorales and sacred songs, was set to a German text, or incorporated one or more melodies associated with the German words of a Lutheran hymn. His output of music on a Latin text, comprising less than a dozen of known independent compositions, was comparatively small: in Lutheranism, and Bach was a Lutheran, church services were generally in the native tongue, which was German for the places where Bach was employed. A few traditional Latin texts, such as the Magnificat and some excerpts of the Mass liturgy, had however not been completely banned from worship practice during the Protestant Reformation. It depended on local traditions whether any of such Latin texts were used in church services occasionally. In Leipzig, compared to Lutheran practice elsewhere, an uncharacteristic amount of Latin was used in church:Spitta, Philipp. "Book V: Leipzig, 1723-1734" in Johann Sebastian Bach: his work and influence on the music of Germany, 1685–1750, translated by Clara Bell and John Alexander Fuller-Maitland, In Three Volumes, Vol. II. London, Novello & Co, 1884. p. 264 it included music on Latin texts being performed on ordinary Sundays,Spitta 1884, p. 266 ff. on high holidays (Christmas, Easter, Pentecost), and the Magnificat also on Marian feasts (Annunciation, Visitation, Purification).
In his first years in Leipzig Bach produced a Latin Magnificat and several settings of the Sanctus. In 1733 he composed a large-scale Kyrie–Gloria Mass for the Catholic court in Dresden. Around the same time he produced the final version of his Magnificat. Probably around 1738–39 he wrote four more Kyrie–Gloria Masses, to a large extent based on earlier compositions. From around 1740 there was an increase of Bach copying and arranging stile antico Latin church music by other composers, which sheds light on a style shift towards more outspoken polyphonic and canonic structures in his own compositions in the last decade of his life.Neuaufgefundenes Bach-Autograph in Weißenfels at In the last years of his life Bach extracted a cantata on a Latin text from his 1733 Kyrie–Gloria Mass, and finally integrated that Mass, and various other earlier compositions, into his Mass in B minor.
Bach's involvement with Latin church music thus stemmed from several circumstances: Assimilating music on a Latin text by other composers (e.g. Bach's German version of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater); A certain, but limited, demand for Latin church music in the places where he was employed as church musician (e.g. his Magnificat); Bach reaching outside the confines of the circumstances of his employment, e.g. soliciting an appointment as Royal and Prince-Electoral court composer with his 1733 Kyrie-Gloria Mass.
That being identifiable motivations for his involvement with Latin church music, some questions remain however without conclusive answer, including: Did he compose the four Kyrie-Gloria Masses BWV 233–236 for Leipzig or for elsewhere? As Bach generally only composed music for which he had a performance opportunity in mind, which performance opportunity, if any, could he have been thinking of for his Mass in B minor?
From the early 19th century there was a renewed attention for Bach and his music: his Latin church music, including (published as a composition by Bach in 1805), the Magnificat (published in 1811), BWV 234 (published in 1818) and the Mass in B minor (heralded as "the greatest musical art work of all times and nations" in 1818), received a fair share of that renewed attention – the first 19th-century publication of a work for voices and orchestra on a German text only followed in 1821. In the second half of the 20th century Bach's compositions on a Latin text were grouped in the third chapter of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis.
Settings of (parts of) the Latin mass liturgy Bach composed five Kyrie–Gloria masses, the first of which was later expanded to the Mass in B minor. He also set the Sanctus part of the mass liturgy a few times, and copied and arranged mass-related compositions by other composers.
Mass in B minor, BWV 232, and related earlier compositions
Around 1748–49 Bach completed his Mass in B minor, BWV 232, based on various earlier compositions including cantata movements and the early versions of Part I Missa in B minor for the Dresden court (Kyrie–Gloria mass composed in 1733), of the first movement of Part II and of the Sanctus (Part III). The Mass in B minor is Bach's only setting of the complete ordinary of the mass.
Sanctus for six vocal parts (1724) In 1724 Bach composed a Sanctus for six vocal parts (SSSATB) and elaborate orchestral score for the Christmas service. Bach revised it when he reused it in the Mass in B minor, changing its initial vocal scoring to SSAATB, and its meter from ₵ to C.Christoph Wolff, Bach: The Learned Musician, W.W. Norton, 2000, p. 265,
Mass for the court at Dresden (1733)
In 1733, Bach composed an extended Kyrie–Gloria mass for the court in Dresden, a setting of two parts of the Latin mass, the Kyrie and Gloria, scored for five vocal parts and orchestra.
Cantata Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191 (around 1745)
Bach used three movements of the Gloria of his 1733 Mass for the Dresden court to compose the cantata Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191, possibly for a performance in 1745. The cantata was composed for a Christmas service sometime in the mid-1740s (between 1743 and 1746).Peter Williams, J.S. Bach: A Life in Music, Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 259,
Mass in B minor, BWV 232 (around 1748–49)
In the last years of his life, Bach integrated the complete Mass for the Dresden court as Kyrie and Gloria in his Mass in B minor, his only complete mass (in Latin: missa tota). Scoring and structure are identical with the later work. Another part of this Mass was derived from the 1724 Sanctus for six vocal parts. Also the music of several movements of his earlier German cantatas was integrated in this mass.
Hans Georg Nägeli described the work, in 1818, as "the greatest musical art work of all times and nations."
Kyrie–Gloria masses, BWV 233–236 (1738–39?)
Apart from the 1733 Missa in B minor for the Dresden court (later incorporated in the Mass in B minor), Bach wrote four further Kyrie–Gloria masses. These compositions, consisting of the first two sections of the Mass ordinary (i.e. the Kyrie and the Gloria), have been indicated as Missae breves (Latin for "short masses") or Lutheran Masses. They seem to have been intended for liturgical use, considering a performance time of about 20 minutes each, the average duration of a Bach cantata. They may have been composed around 1738/39.Christoph Wolff: Johann Sebastian Bach, 2nd edition 2007. S. Fischer, Frankfurt, Possibly they were written for Count Franz Anton von Sporck or performed by him in Lysá.
Each of the Kyrie-Gloria Masses is in six movements: the Kyrie is one choral movement (with Kyrie/Christe/Kyrie subdivisions) and the Gloria is in five movements. The first and last movement of the Gloria are also choral, framing three arias for different voice types. The music consists mostly of parodies of earlier cantata movements. Bach changed the music slightly to adjust to the Latin words, but kept the original instrumentation.
Kyrie–Gloria Mass in F major, BWV 233 For the in F major, BWV 233, scored for horns, oboes, bassoon, strings, SATB, and basso continuo, Bach derived most of the six movements from earlier cantatas as parodies.
Kyrie–Gloria Mass in A major, BWV 234 For the in A major, BWV 234, scored for flute, strings, SATB, and basso continuo, Bach parodied music from at least four earlier cantatas.
In 1818 this was one of a very few of Bach's compositions for voices and orchestra to appear in print prior the Bach Gesellschaft complete edition in the second half of the 19th century.
Kyrie–Gloria Mass in G minor, BWV 235 For the in G minor, BWV 235, scored for oboes, strings, SATB, basso continuo, Bach derived all six movements from cantatas as parodies.
Kyrie–Gloria Mass in G major, BWV 236 For the in G major, BWV 236, scored for oboes, strings, SATB, basso continuo, Bach derived all six movements from cantatas as parodies.
Separate movements, copies, and arrangements Bach composed and copied separate movements on a text extracted from the Mass ordinary. He also copied and arranged larger Mass compositions (mostly Kyrie–Gloria masses).
Sanctus in C major, BWV 237 (1723?) Bach composed the Sanctus in C major for SATB choir and orchestra, BWV 237, possibly for St. John's Day, 24 June 1723.Bach Digital Work
Sanctus in D major, BWV 238 (1723) Bach's Sanctus in D major, BWV 238, for SATB choir and orchestra, was first performed on Christmas, 25 December 1723.Bach Digital Work
Sanctus in D minor, BWV 239, after Gloria of Caldara's Missa Providentiae (Bach manuscript from 1738-41)
Bach's manuscript of the Sanctus in D minor, BWV 239, dates from around 1738 to 1741.D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 13, Fascicle 3 and PL-Kj Mus. ms. Bach St 113, Fascicle 1 (olim: D-B Mus. ms. Bach St 113, Fascicle 1) at Bach Digital website It is a composition for SATB voices, string orchestra and continuo, based on the Gloria of Antonio Caldara's .Bach Digital Work Mus.2170-D-7 at SLUB Dresden website.
Sanctus in G major, BWV 240 (Bach manuscript from 1742) Bach's manuscript of the Sanctus in G major, BWV 240, dates from 1742.D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 13, Fascicle 2 and D-B Mus. ms. Bach St 115 at Bach Digital website The authenticity of this composition for SATB choir and orchestra is however doubted.Bach Digital Work
Sanctus, BWV 241, arranged from Kerll's Missa superba (Bach manuscript from 1747–48) The , is Bach's arrangement of the Sanctus of Johann Caspar Kerll's Missa superba.Kirsten Beißwenger, editor. New Bach Edition, Series II: Masses, Passions, Oratorios, Volume 9: Latin Church Music, Passions: Works with Doubtful Authenticity, Arrangements of Music from other Composers (Score – Critical Commentary). Bärenreiter, 2000.Bach Digital Work Bach's manuscript of this Sanctus setting was written between July 1747 and August 1748.D-Cv A.V,1109,(1), 1a and 1b at Bach Digital website
Kyrie–Gloria Mass in C minor after Durante, BWV 242 and Anh. 26 (Bach manuscript from 1727–32) In the period from 1727 to 1732 Bach produced the manuscript of a for SATB choir and orchestra, BWV Anh. 26, based on a composition by Francesco Durante. Bach's manuscript included his own setting of a . Elsewhere in the score there are some instances of Bach adjusting the text placement.Bach Digital Work and
Sanctus in F major, BWV 325 (four-part chorale)