Mass B minor BWV 232 by Johann Sebastian Bach

Mass B minor BWV 232 by Johann Sebastian Bach – BĂ€renreiter-Verlag – Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Berlin, Germany)

Germany — 1748–1749

Written shortly before his death and only premiered over 100 years after its completion: Johann Sebastian Bach's famous Mass in B Minor with fascinating insights into the creation of the work

  1. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) completed the work in 1748/49 shortly before his death

  2. The mass was first performed in 1859 in the midst of a Renaissance that Bach’s music enjoyed in the 19th century

  3. The original manuscript is a milestone of music history and offers an inside glimpse into the work’s development

Mass B minor BWV 232 by Johann Sebastian Bach

  1. Description
  2. Facsimile Editions (1)
Description
Mass B minor BWV 232 by Johann Sebastian Bach

Composed shortly before his death, this rare Latin choral composition by Johann Sebastian Bach is regarded by many as the culmination of his career. The mass would not be performed until more than a century after Bach’s death, but would premiere in 1859 at the height of the 19th century’s so-called Bach Revival. Today it is regarded as one of the finest works in the history of music and is performed in a regular basis.

Mass B minor BWV 232 by Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) completed the Mass in B minor in 1748/49 shortly after the Art of Fugue and shortly before his death. This late work is as concentrated and rich in compositional technique as scarcely any other. In many ways, it is the culmination of Bach’s musical career because it largely consists of various vocal music that he composed throughout his life, which was revised and combined with newly composed sections. As early as 1818, Hans-Georg NĂ€geli (1773–1836) enthusiastically described the Mass as the "greatest musical artwork of all time and all nations”. The mass was never performed in its entirety during Bach’s lifetime, and would not occur until 1859 in the midst of a Renaissance that Bach’s music enjoyed in the 19th century. This is perhaps because it takes the form of a Missa tota, a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy in Latin to music, which was unusual for Lutheran composers. Nonetheless, it has since been ranked as an icon of music history, which continues to be performed with regularity to the present day. The original manuscript offers Bach admirers an inside glimpse into the work’s development. This is a wonderful artifact of a milestone in music history.

Codicology

Alternative Titles
Kleine Messe B BWV 232 von Johann Sebastian Bach
Origin
Germany
Date
1748–1749
Style
Genre
Artist / School

Available facsimile editions:
Mass B minor BWV 232 by Johann Sebastian Bach – BĂ€renreiter-Verlag – Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Berlin, Germany)
BĂ€renreiter-Verlag – Kassel, 2010
You might also be interested in:
FrĂ©dĂ©ric Chopin - Concerto in f-minor – Orbis Pictus – Biblioteka Narodowa (Warsaw, Poland)
Frédéric Chopin - Concerto in f-minor
Warsaw (Poland) – 1829–1830

One of the few autographs by Chopin to survive World War II: the virtuoso composer's early work, already celebrated during his lifetime and inspired by his first great love, the opera singer Konstancja Gladkowska

Experience More
Joseph Haydn – Gott! Erhalte Franz den Kaiser – Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Mus. Hs. 16.501 – Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Vienna, Austria)
Joseph Haydn – Gott! Erhalte Franz den Kaiser
Vienna (Austria) – 1797

Composed in Vienna for the Empire, today the melody of the German national anthem: Haydn's famous imperial anthem of the House of Austria and a true gem of music history

Experience More
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Ave Verum Corpus – Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Mus. Hs. 18.975/3 – Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Vienna, Austria)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Ave Verum Corpus
Baden (Austria) – 1791

Written only 6 months before his untimely death and still part of the Catholic liturgy today: a motet by Mozart regarded as a "crystallization of classical simplicity and grandeur"

Experience More
W.A. Mozart: Requiem, KV 626 – Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Mus. Hs. 17.561 – Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Vienna, Austria)
W.A. Mozart: Requiem, KV 626
Vienna (Austria) – 1791

Mozart's legendary last composition, created on his deathbed: an unfinished requiem for a mysterious anonymous patron and one of the most famous masterpieces in the history of music

Experience More
Piano Concerto C minor K. 491 by W. A. Mozart – BĂ€renreiter-Verlag – Royal College of Music (London, United Kingdom)
Piano Concerto C minor K. 491 by W. A. Mozart
Vienna (Austria) – 1785 – March 24, 1786

One of only two piano concertos in a minor key, written for strings, winds, and timpani: the widest range of instruments among Mozart's piano compositions and the rarest testimony to the century-old genius's working method

Experience More
Don Giovanni K. 527, 540a, 540c – BĂ€renreiter-Verlag – BibliothĂšque nationale de France (Paris, France)
Don Giovanni K. 527, 540a, 540c
Vienna (Austria) – 1787

Valuable insights into the creation of one of the most popular and most performed operas of all time: Mozart's unscrupulous seducer Don Giovanni in the great composer's refined and haunting scores

Experience More
Blog articles worth reading
Filter selection
Publisher