The Mass in B minor (BWV 232) by Johann Sebastian Bach
is a musical setting of the complete Ordinary of the
Latin Mass. The work was one of Bach's last
compositions, not completed until 1749, the year before
his death. Much of the Mass gave new form to vocal
music that Bach had composed throughout his career,
dating back (in the case of the "Crucifixus") to 1714,
but extensively revised. To complete the work, in the
late 1740s Bach composed new sections of the Credo such
as "Et incarnatus est".<...(+)
The Mass in B minor (BWV 232) by Johann Sebastian Bach
is a musical setting of the complete Ordinary of the
Latin Mass. The work was one of Bach's last
compositions, not completed until 1749, the year before
his death. Much of the Mass gave new form to vocal
music that Bach had composed throughout his career,
dating back (in the case of the "Crucifixus") to 1714,
but extensively revised. To complete the work, in the
late 1740s Bach composed new sections of the Credo such
as "Et incarnatus est".
It was unusual for composers working in the Lutheran
tradition to compose a Missa tota and Bach's
motivations remain a matter of scholarly debate. The
Mass was never performed in its entirety during Bach's
lifetime; the first documented complete performance
took place in 1859. Since the nineteenth century it has
been widely hailed as one of the greatest compositions
in musical history, and today it is frequently
performed and recorded. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
archived this work as the Great Catholic Mass.
On 1 February 1733, Augustus II Strong, Polish King,
Grand Duke of Lithuania and Elector of Saxony, died.
Five months of mourning followed, during which all
public music-making was suspended. Bach used the
opportunity to work on the composition of a Missa, a
portion of the liturgy sung in Latin and common to both
the Lutheran and Roman Catholic rites. His aim was to
dedicate the work to the new sovereign Augustus III, a
Catholic, with the hope of obtaining the title
"Electoral Saxon Court Composer”. Upon its
completion, Bach visited Augustus III and presented him
with a copy of the Missa, together with a petition to
be given a court title, dated July 27, 1733; in the
accompanying inscription on the wrapper of the mass he
complains that he had "innocently suffered one injury
or another” in Leipzig. The petition did not meet
with immediate success, but Bach eventually got his
title: he was made court composer to Augustus III in
1736.
In the last years of his life, Bach expanded the Missa
into a complete setting of the Latin Ordinary. It is
not known what prompted this creative effort. Wolfgang
Osthoff and other scholars have suggested that Bach
intended the completed Mass in B minor for performance
at the dedication of the new Hofkirche in Dresden,
which was begun in 1738 and was nearing completion by
the late 1740s. However, the building was not completed
until 1751, and Bach's death in July, 1750 prevented
his Mass from being submitted for use at the
dedication. Instead, Johann Adolph Hasse's Mass in D
minor was performed, a work with many similarities to
Bach's Mass (the Credo movements in both works feature
chant over a walking bass line, for example). Other
explanations are less event-specific, involving Bach's
interest in 'encyclopedic' projects (like The Art of
Fugue) that display a wide range of styles, and Bach's
desire to preserve some of his best vocal music in a
format with wider potential future use than the church
cantatas they originated in.
The piece is orchestrated for two flutes, two oboes
d'amore, one natural horn (in D), three natural
trumpets (in D), timpani, violins I and II, violas and
basso continuo (cellos, basses, bassoons, organ and
harpsichord).
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_in_B_minor).
I created this arrangement of the "Quoniam tu solus
sanctus" (For you alone are holy) for Flute & Strings
(2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
