Towards the end of his life, Bach began to lose his eyesight, which is evident in the manuscript of the 'Confiteor' where his handwriting is often unclear and parts are illegible.
Notable Performances
The complete Mass in B minor was not performed until 1813, when the Berlin Singakademie began rehearsing it under Carl Friedrich Zelter, with a 10-year-old Mendelssohn singing in the choir in 1819.
Composition History
Most movements of the Mass in B minor began life in other works, with the earliest datable one, the 'Crucifixus', originating from a cantata first performed 35 years before the Mass's completion.
Composition History
Bach sent the Kyrie and Gloria of the Mass in B minor to Elector Frederick Augustus II of Saxony in 1733, hoping to secure a court title and improve his standing outside Leipzig.
Composition History
Bach's Mass in B minor, though now performed as one large work, could not have been given complete in a Protestant church in his time, as only certain parts of the Catholic Mass could be sung in Latin in a Lutheran service.
Compositional Technique
The Mass in B minor is unusual for its demand of a five-part chorus with two separate soprano lines, requiring Bach to redistribute vocal lines from what were often four-part originals.
Recording & Production
The Cantata Collective, a group of Bay Area early-music luminaries, recorded this Mass in B minor live in March 2023 at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, California.
You might also enjoy...
Bach: Mass in B Minor
Bach: Mass in B minor
Bach: Messe F-Dur & Messe A-Dur
Bach, J.S.: Mass in B minor, BWV232
J.S. Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
J.S. Bach: Mass in F Major, BWV 233 & Mass in A Major, BWV 234
Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
Bach: Mass in B minor
Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
J.S. Bach: Mass in B Minor
Johann Sebastian Bach: Messe h-Moll / Mass in B Minor, BWV 232
