The Mass in B minor is Johann Sebastian Bach's only setting of the complete Latin text of the . 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:

The four sections of the manuscript are numbered, and Bach's usual closing formula (S.D.G = ) is found at the end of the "".

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 and the , and several additional individual settings of the and the . To achieve the , 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 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 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 () in the centre and the in its centre. 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 is scored for six voices (SSAATB), and the even for two four-part choirs. Bach called for a rich instrumentation of brass, woodwinds and strings, assigning varied obbligato parts to different instruments.

History and parody

The Mass was Bach's last major artistic undertaking. The reason for the composition is unknown. Scholars have found no plausible occasion for which the work may have been intended. The Bach scholar Joshua Rifkin noted: ... likely, Bach sought to create a paradigmatic example of vocal composition while at the same time contributing to the venerable musical genre of the Mass, still the most demanding and prestigious apart from opera. Conductor Robert King summarised that "the composer seems to have occupied part of his last years writing a work that was intended to be a summation of his art, a document for future generations, and a supreme personal opportunity to unite his faith in God with his life’s work as a musician".

Bach first composed a setting of the Kyrie and Gloria in 1733 for the Catholic royal court in Dresden. He presented that composition to Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony (later, as Augustus III, also king of Poland), accompanied by a letter:In deepest Devotion I present to your Royal Highness this small product of that science which I have attained in Musique, with the most humble request that you will deign to regard it not according to the imperfection of its Composition, but with a most gracious eye ... and thus take me into your most mighty Protection. He arranged the text in diverse movements for a five-part choir and solo voices, according to the taste in Dresden where sacred music "borrowed" from Italian opera with a focus on choral movements, as musicologist Arthur Wenk notes.

Bach expanded the Missa of 1733 to a from 1748 to 1749, near the end of his life. In these last years, he added three choral movements for the : its opening , and . The Sanctus was originally an individual movement composed for Christmas 1724 in Leipzig.

Most other movements of the mass are parodies of music from earlier cantatas, dating back as far as 1714. Wenk points out that Bach often used parody to "bring a composition to a higher level of perfection". The original musical sources of several movements are known, for others they are lost but the score shows that they are copied and reworked. Bach selected movements that carried a similar expression and affekt. For example, (We give you thanks) is based on (We thank you, God, we thank you) and the (Crucified) is based on the general lamenting about the situation of the faithful Christian, (Weeping, lamenting, worrying, fearing) which Bach had composed already in 1714 as one of his first cantatas for the court of Weimar.

Bach quoted Gregorian chant in two of the newly composed movements, in the as a theme of a 7-part fugue, and in the as a cantus firmus embedded in complex polyphony, once as a canon.

Bach achieved a symmetry of the parts, with the profession of faith () in the center and the movement in its center. Markus Rathey, Professor of Music History at the Institute of Sacred Music at the Yale School of Music, sees a similarity to architecture of the period, such as the Palace of Versailles. Bach knew buildings in that style, for example Schloss Friedrichsthal in Gotha, built in 1710. Rathey continues: The symmetry on earth mirrors the symmetric perfection of heaven. The purpose of art at this time—in architecture, the visual arts, and music—was not to create something entirely new, but to reflect this divine perfection, and in this way to praise God. We find such a symmetric outline in many pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach,19 but only in a few cases is this outline as consequent as in the B Minor Mass. The parts Kyrie, Gloria and Credo are all designed with choral sections as the outer movements, framing an intimate center of theological significance. According to Christoph Wolff, the Mass can be seen as a "kind of specimen book of his finest compositions in every kind of style, from the stile antico of Palestrina in the 'Credo' and 'Confiteor' and the expressively free writing of the 'Crucifixus' and 'Agnus Dei', to the supreme counterpoint of the opening Kyrie as well as so many other choruses, right up to the most modern style in galant solos like 'Christe eleison' and 'Domine Deus'". Bach made "a conscious effort to incorporate all styles that were available to him, to encompass all music history as far as it was accessible". The Mass is a compendium of vocal sacred music, similar to other collections that Bach compiled during the last decade of his life, such as the Clavier-Übung III, The Art of Fugue, the Goldberg Variations, the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes and The Musical Offering.

Overview Bach's autograph score of the Mass in B minor is subdivided in four sections. Part I is titled Missa, consisting of the same and which constituted his Missa of 1733. The second part is titled (Latin for Nicene Creed, a.k.a. ). An early version of the first movement of this section is extant. The third section, called , is based on an early version composed in 1724. The and , traditionally concluding the , are, however, not included in this section, but open the next, which is called .

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |- |+ Comparison of Bach's titles to the parts of the mass |- ! scope="col" | Five usual sections of theMass ordinary ! scope="col" | Mass in B minor sections ! scope="col" | Number ofmovements ! scope="col" | Yearfrom ! scope="col" | Yearto

| style="text-align: center;" | I.  ! rowspan="2" | and ) | style="text-align: center;" | 3 || 1733 || 1733 |- | style="text-align: center;" | II.  | style="text-align: center;" | 9 || ? || 1733 |- | style="text-align: center;" | III.  ! II.  | style="text-align: center;" | 9 || 1714 || 1749 |- | rowspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | IV.  ! III.  | style="text-align: center;" | 2 || 1724 || 1724 |- ! rowspan="2" | IV.  | style="text-align: center;" | 3 || 1732 || 1749 |- | style="text-align: center;" | V. ending on "" | style="text-align: center;" | 2 || 1725 || 1749

Scoring

The work is scored for five vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra. Its movements are listed in a table with the scoring of voices and instruments, key, tempo marking, time signature and source. The movement numbering follows the Bärenreiter edition of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe (NBA), first in a consecutive numbering (NBA II), then in a numbering for the four individual parts (NBA I).

The voices are abbreviated S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor, B for bass. Bach asked for two sopranos. Practical performances often have only one soprano soloist, sharing the parts for the second soprano (SII) between soprano and alto. A four-part choir is indicated by SATB, a five-part choir by SSATB. The requires six vocal parts, SSAATB, which are often divided in the three upper voices versus the lower voices. The requires two choirs SATB.

Instruments in the orchestra are three trumpets (Tr), timpani (Ti), corno da caccia (Co), two flauti traversi (Ft), two oboes (Ob), two oboes d'amore (Oa), two bassoons (Fg), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), and basso continuo. The continuo is not mentioned in the table as it is present all the time. The other instruments are grouped by brass, woodwinds and strings.

Bach based movements of the Mass in B minor on earlier compositions. What is known about reworked earlier material is indicated in the last two columns of the table (earlier composition; year of composition), including some educated guesswork, as found in the indicated scholarly literature. This does not include the 1733 version of Part I (the movements that constitute the and ), but earlier compositions which Bach used as basis for that version.

Structure

+ Structure of the Mass in B Minor by J. S. Bach Movement Instruments Music Origination Incipit Solo Choir Brass Wood Strings KeyTime Tempo SourceAlberto Basso. Frau Musika: La vita e le opere di J. S. Bach, Volume II: Lipsia e le opere de la maturità (1723–1750), pp. 510–511. Turin, EDT. 1983. Year I. Missa 1 1 SSATB 2Ft 2Oa Fg 2Vl Va B minor Adagio – Largo Kyrie in G minor? 2 2 Christe S S 2Vl D major likely 3 3 SATB 2Ft 2Oa Fg 2Vl Va F minor 4a 4 SSATB 3Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob Fg 2Vl Va D major Vivace likely 4b 5 SSATB 3Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob Fg 2Vl Va D major likely 5 6 SII 2Vl Va A major likely 6 7 SATB 3Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob Fg 2Vl Va D major BWV 29/2 1731 7a 8 S T Ft 2Vl Va G major ? (music lost) 7b 9 SATB 2Ft 2Vl Va Vc B minor Lento BWV 46 1723 8 10 A Oa 2Vl Va B minor likely 9a 11 B Co 2Fg D major likely 9b 12 SSATB 3Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob Fg 2Vl Va D major Vivace II. Symbolum Nicenum 10 1 SSATB 2Vl D Major / Credo in G 11 2 SATB 3Tr Ti 2Ob 2Vl Va D major lost, also source for BWV 171/1 1729 12 3 S A 2Oa 2Vl Va G major Andante lost, also source for 13 4 SSATB 2Vl B minor 14 5 SATB 2Ft 2Vl Va E minor BWV 12/2 1714 15 6 SSATB 3Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob 2Vl Va D major 16 7 B 2Oa A major likely 17a 8 SSATB F minor 17b SSATB F minor Adagio 9 SSATB 3Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob 2Vl Va D major Vivace e Allegro BWV 120/2 III. Sanctus 18a SSA ATB 3Tr Ti 3Ob 2Vl Va D major Sanctus 1724 18b SSAATB 3Tr Ti 3Ob 2Vl Va D major IV. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem 19 1 SATB SATB Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob 2Vl Va D major 1732 20 2 T Ft B minor likely 21 3 22 4 A 2Vl G minor 1725 23 5 SATB 3Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob 2Vl Va D major BWV 29/2 as Gratias 1731

Parts and movements

No. 1 Missa

and

The section is structured, following tradition, in a threefold acclamation of God, a chorus for the I, a duet Christe, and a different chorus for II. I is in B minor, Christe in D major, II in F-sharp minor. The three notes B, D and F-sharp form the B minor triad. Butt notes D major as the central key, corresponding to the "atonement of Christ".