Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV 232

If any one mass holds central place in European music, it is the Mass in B minor, BWV 232, in which Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) not only made a statement of his own personal theological and aesthetic creed, but also established a basis for future composers of the genre.

Composed over a period of two decades, it seems that the mass was started around 1724, when Bach composed the Sanctus as an independent piece. The work is a parody mass (making use of earlier compositions to form a new work), and in 1733 Bach sent the Elector of Saxony the Kyrie and the Gloria, hoping to be made composer to the Dresden court, an honorary post he would only obtain three years later.

The mass was finally finished during the period 1746-1748, the same years that saw the composition of thof Fugue and the Musical Offering. The work is Bach’s gift to posterity, and will be sung in Torroella by an internationally renowned Scottish ensemble, directed by John Butt.