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 Nägeli (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.