Mass in B minor
BWV 232 performed by the Netherlands Bach Society
conducted by Jos van Veldhoven
Grote Kerk, Naarden
Behind the music
Story
Story
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Credits
Credits
Bach's testament
Bach's Mass in B minor could be regarded as one big Concerto Grosso
Sublime, extreme and all-embracing… only superlatives will do to describe Bach’s Mass in B minor. In between an awe-inspiring Kyrie and the jubilant final Dona nobis pacem, there are nine completely unique arias and duets, fourteen impressive ensemble sections for four, five, six and even eight voices, a broad spectrum of instrumental solos, and an incredible variety of styles. Our admiration is justified: it was with good reason that in 1748-49 Bach brought together some of the highlights of his long career. The Mass even includes Bach’s very last pages of vocal music, the Et incarnatus est, right alongside the Crucifixus, a clever arrangement from one of his earliest cantatas, composed in 1714.
A magnum opus
There has been much speculation about the question of why Bach compiled a Mass at the end of his life. Nowadays, the Mass in B minor is generally regarded as the magnum opus of his vocal works; equivalent to other big projects by Bach like Die Kunst der Fuge and the Clavier-Übungen series. Bach may have opted for the Ordinary of the Mass because it gave him a lot of freedom. There is a great deal of text and it is not dictated which movements should be sung by the chorus and which should be arias. Neither are there any rules about the number of movements. Furthermore, the words of the Mass – unlike those of the cantatas – are universal rather than being a product of their time.
The Mass of 1733
The length of the Mass in B minor precludes it being sung in its entirety in a church service. Yet this does not mean that Bach could never have heard his creation performed live. It is just that it was performed in parts over the years. Most researchers now believe that Bach compiled his Mass largely of existing music, coming predominantly from the cantatas of course. The initiative for the complete Mass dates from July 1733, when Bach presented the parts for a Mass in B minor to King August III in Dresden. It was the start of a series of five ‘Lutheran’ Masses, comprising only the Kyrie and the Gloria, which all originated in the 1730’s. Whereas Bach’s text did differ somewhat from the Roman Catholic liturgy, such a restricted setting of the Mass was quite common at the Catholic court of Dresden. Moreover, the form was extremely well suited to the custom in Dresden (rather than that in Leipzig); namely a Mass in separate movements, as in the Neapolitan style of Zelenka. For the performance, Bach could call on the world-famous court orchestra, which included stars like the violinist Pisendel, the flautists Buffardin and Quantz, and the oboist Richter, who were each given a nice solo (respectively Laudamus te, Domine Deus and Qui sedes). The effect must have been magnificent. The great variety of styles is also remarkable. For example, a true Baroque opera duet, Christe eleison, is followed by the second Kyrie in strong counterpoint.
Perfect proportions
Bach only compiled the last five movements of the Mass when he notated the whole work in a score in 1748-49. The architecture of the Credo is striking. At the last moment, Bach very deliberately changed his initial format by separating the Et incarnatus est from the duet Et in unum Dominum, thus producing nine movements. In the new format, the core elements of the faith, i.e. the birth of Jesus as man, his death and his propitious ascension, each get their own central part in the Credo. Incidentally, Bach sets the expecto fragment of text to music twice: first dark and tormented at the end of the Confiteor, as if the corpse is lying waiting in his coffin for what is to come, and then jubilantly when the resurrection is a fact. Bach also borrowed from himself for the three Sanctus movements. He reused a Sanctus from 1724 (in extra festive Lutheran services, this text was sung separately, without the Osanna and the Benedictus), the opening of the cantata Preise dein Glücke from 1730 for the Osanna, and an unknown original for the aria Benedictus in the very fashionable ‘empfindsame’ style of the day, as if Bach wanted to say that he was still very much up to date.
About the performance
Jos van Veldhoven’s idea for this performance was to try and make as little distinction as possible between the singers and the instrumentalists. After all, Bach often reused instrumental music in his vocal works. He also tried to forget the ‘classical’ chorus set-up and to put himself in the impressive and rich tradition of which Bach was part. The result is a ‘new’ Mass in B minor: a Mass like one big concerto grosso with many different components. In addition, Jos van Veldhoven was guided by the texture of the score, also with regard to the orchestra line-up.
- BWV
- 232
- Title
- Mass in B minor
- Epithet
- Hohe Messe
- Genre
- Latin church music
- Year
- 1733/1748-49
- City
- Leipzig
- Lyricist
- Ordinary of the Latin Mass
- Occasion
- unknown
- First performance
- not performed in its entirety during Bach's life
- Special notes
- Bach used a previously written composition for nearly every movement
Extra videos
Vocal texts
Original
I MISSA
1. Coro
Kyrie eleison.
2. Duetto (soprano I&II)
Christe eleison.
3. Coro
Kyrie eleison.
4. Coro
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Et in terra pax hominibus
bonae voluntatis.
5. Aria (soprano II)
Laudamus te, benedicimus te,
adoramus te, glorificamus te.
6. Coro
Gratias agimus tibi
propter magnam gloriam tuam.
7. Duetto (soprano I & tenor)
Domine Deus, rex coelestis,
Deus Pater omnipotens.
Domine Fili unigenite,
Jesu Christe, altissime.
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei,
Filius Patris.
8. Coro
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
miserere nobis.
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
suscipe deprecationem nostram.
9. Aria (alto)
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris,
miserere nobis.
10. Aria (bass)
Quoniam tu solus sanctus,
tu solus Dominus,
tu solus altissimus,
Jesu Christe.
11. Coro
Cum Sancto Spiritu
in gloria Dei Patris.
Amen.
II SYMBOLUM NICENUM
12. Coro
Credo in unum Deum.
13. Coro
Credo in unum Deum.
Patrem omnipotentem,
factorem caeli et terrae,
visibilium omnium et invisibilium.
14. Duetto (soprano I & alto)
Et in unum Dominum
Jesum Christum,
Filium Dei unigenitum.
Et ex Patre natum
ante omnia saecula.
Deum de Deo,
lumen de lumine,
Deum verum de Deo vero.
Genitum, non factum,
consubstantialem Patri,
per quem omnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nos homines
et propter nostram salutem
descendit de caelis.
15. Coro
Et incarnatus est
de Spiritu Sancto
ex Maria virgine
et homo factus est.
16. Coro
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis,
sub Pontio Pilato
passus et sepultus est.
17. Coro
Et resurrexit tertia die
secundum scripturas.
Et ascendit in caelum,
sedet ad dexteram Patris.
Et iterum venturus est cum gloria
judicare vivos et mortuos,
cujus regni non erit finis.
18. Aria (bass)
Et in Spiritum Sanctum
Dominum et vivificantem,
qui ex Patre Filoque procedit.
Qui cum Patre et Filio simul
adoratur et conglorificatur,
qui locutus est per prophetas.
Et unam sanctam catholicam
et apostolicam ecclesiam.
19. Coro
Confiteor unum baptisma
in remissionem peccatorum.
20. Coro
Et expecto ressurectionem mortuorum,
et vitam venturi saeculi.
Amen.
III SANCTUS
21. Coro
Sanctus Domine Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria ejus.
IV OSANNA, BENEDICTUS, AGNUS DEI ET DONA NOBIS PACEM
22. Coro
Osanna in excelsis.
23 Aria (tenor)
Benedictus qui venit
in nomine Domini.
Coro
Osanna in excelsis.
24. Aria (alto)
Agnus Dei
qui tollis peccata mundi,
miserere nobis.
25. Coro
Dona nobis pacem.
Translation
I MISSA
1. Chorus
Lord, have mercy.
2. Duet
Christ, have mercy.
3. Chorus
Lord, have mercy.
4. Chorus
Glory to God on high,
and on earth peace
to persons of good will.
5. Aria
We praise you, we bless you,
we worship you, we glorify you.
6. Chorus
We give you thanks
on account of your great glory.
7. Duet
Lord God, heavenly king,
God Father almighty,
Lord only begotten Son,
Jesus Christ most high,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
Son of the Father.
8. Chorus
You who take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you who take away the sins of the world,
accept our prayer.
9. Aria
You who sit at the right [hand] of the Father,
have mercy on us.
10. Aria
For you alone are holy,
you alone are Lord,
you alone are most high,
Jesus Christ.
11. Chorus
with the Holy Spirit
in the glory of God the God the Father,
amen.
II SYMBOLUM NICENUM
12. Chorus
I believe in one God.
13. Chorus
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth
and of all things, seen and unseen.
14. Duet
And [I believe] in one Lord,
Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God,
born of the Father
before all the ages,
God from God,
light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father;
through whom all things were made,
[the Son] who on account of us human
beings and on account of our salvation,
came down from the heavens.
15. Chorus
And was embodied in flesh,
from the Holy Spirit,
of the Virgin Mary,
and was made a human being.
16. Chorus
He was also crucified for us
under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered [on the cross] and was buried.
17. Chorus
And rose again on the third day
in accordance with the scriptures,
and ascended into heaven,
sitting at the right [hand] of God the Father;
and he will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead,
of whose reign there will be no end.
18. Aria
And [I believe] in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son;
who is worshiped and glorified together with
the Father and the Son,
[the Spirit] who spoke through the Prophets;
and [I believe in] one holy, world-wide,
and Apostolic Church.
19. Chorus
I confess one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
20. Chorus
And I look forward
to the resurrection of the dead;
and the life of the age to come, amen.
III SANCTUS
21. Chorus
Holy Lord God of Hosts,
heaven and earth are full of his glory.
IV OSANNA, BENEDICTUS, AGNUS DEI ET DONA NOBIS PACEM
22. Chorus
Hosanna on high.
23. Aria
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Chorus
Hosanna on high.
24. Aria
Lamb of God,
you who take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
25. Chorus
Grant us peace.
transl. © Daniel R. Melamed and Michael Marissen
For the annotated version of the text and translation, see here.
Credits
-
- Release date
- 9 June 2017
-
- Recording date
- 15 December 2016
-
- Location
- Grote Kerk, Naarden
-
- Conductor
- Jos van Veldhoven
-
- Soprano 1
- Hana Blažíková
-
- Soprano 2
- Anna Reinhold
-
- Alto
- David Erler
-
- Tenor
- Thomas Hobbs
-
- Bass
- Peter Harvey
-
- Ripieno soprano 1
- Marjon Strijk, Lucie Chartin
-
- Ripieno soprano 2
- Hilde Van Ruymbeke, Lauren Armishaw
-
- Ripieno alto
- Barnabás Hegyi, Elsbeth Gerritsen
-
- Ripieno tenor
- Yves van Handenhove, João Moreira
-
- Ripieno bass
- Matthew Baker, Drew Santini
-
- Violin 1
- Shunske Sato, Anneke van Haaften, Annelies van der Vegt
-
- Violin 2
- Sayuri Yamagata, Pieter Affourtit, Paulien Kostense
-
- Viola
- Staas Swierstra, Yoshiko Morita
-
- Cello
- Lucia Swarts, Barbara Kernig
-
- Double bass
- Robert Franenberg
-
- Traverso
- Marten Root, Doretthe Janssens
-
- Oboe
- Martin Stadler, Peter Frankenberg, Yongcheon Shin
-
- Bassoon
- Benny Aghassi, Tomasz Wesolowski
-
- Horn
- Teunis van der Zwart
-
- Trumpet
- Robert Vanryne, Fruzsina Hara, Mark Geelen
-
- Timpani
- Peppie Wiersma
-
- Harpsichord
- Siebe Henstra
-
- Positive organ
- Pieter-Jan Belder
-
- Director
- Simon Aarden
-
- Assistant director
- Ferenc Soeteman
-
- Music recording
- Guido Tichelman, Bastiaan Kuijt, Pim van der Lee
-
- Music edit and mix
- Guido Tichelman
-
- Camera
- Jochem Timmerman, Bart ten Harkel, Martin Struijf, Merijn Vrieling
-
- Gaffer
- Zen Bloot, Henry Rodgers
-
- Camera assistant
- Klazina Westra
-
- Set technician
- Justin Mutsaers
-
- Film editor
- Pjotr 's-Gravesande
-
- Data handling
- Jesper Blok
-
- Project manager nep
- Peter Ribbens
-
- Documentary
- Onno van Ameijde, Marloes Biermans
-
- Producer concert
- Imke Deters, Marco Meijdam
-
- Producer film
- Jessie Verbrugh
-
- Acknowledgements
- Angela Mast, Marlo Reeders
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