The research that has gone into his life and works over the last few decades has caused us constantly to revise our ideas of Johann Sebastian Bach. Few works reveal this constant revision more clearly than his Mass in B minor. Past generations have referred to this work as Bachßs "High Mass" seeing in it a counterpart to Beethoven’s Missa solemnis. It was Friedrich Smend (“Neue Bach-Ausgabe,” 1954) who first pointed out that each of the four sections - the Missa, the Credo, the Sanctus and the concluding movements - had its own individual significance, having been created separately, and that the arrangement in no way corresponded to the customary form of the Ordinary of the Mass. Georg von Dadelsen finally proved that about fifteen years elapsed between Bach’s composing the “Missa” (a Short Mass consisting of “Kyrie” and “Gloria”) in the year 1733 and his completion of the whole work, even taking into account his frequent use of earlier compositions.
The “Missa” the nucleus of the work, could be performed both at a Lutheran service and at the Catholic court of Dresden. On July 27th, 1733, Bach dedicated the “Missa” to the Elector of Saxony, enclosing a petition to his Royal Highness for the title of Court Capellmeister, and, if the suppositions of numerous music historians are correct, had allready performed the composition on April 21st, 1722, in the Leipzig Nikolaikirche on the occasion of the Electors official visit to the city after succeeding King Frederic Augustus II of Poland.
In the “Missa,” too, Bach borrowed much material from other compositions. However, in this work we can find important details that clearly distinguish it from his cantatas and oratorios. In the first place there are no recitatives and ariosos. Further, the composer chooses not to use the conventional da-capo aria form, preferring merely to hint at a repeat, or to build up the arias form a series of sections. And, finally, the work as a whole is dominated by the choruses, which are allocated the largest portion of the work and, as a result, bear the weight of the whole musical structure.
Right at the start, the opening of the “Kyrie” makes an impact upon the listener. The form of the opening movement is conventional, a short chordal tutti followed by an extensive fugue; Bach`s treatment of it, however, reveals the uniqueness of his genius, the themes of the “Kyrie” fugues are two of the most glorious ever conceived. The variety of styles is also remarkable. The second “Kyrie” and the “Gratias agimus tibi” are both written in the “stilo antico,” in contrast to the “modern” style of the lively, concertante choruses “Gloria in excelsis Deo” and “Cum Sancto Spiritu” with their figurations full of runs and arpeggios. Somewhere between the two extremes we have the first “Kyrie” and the “Qui tollis pecata mundi.” The vocal solos are all concertante in style, although by no means uniform. The “Laudamus te” aria is highly ornamental with much florid coloratura. The “Quoniam tu solus sanctus” aria with the horn’s wide intervallic leaps is an impressive representation of divine power. The setting of “Christe eleison” and “Domine Deus” as duets may also be regarded as symbolic. They both deal with Christ, the Son of the Father, the second section of the creed.
Bath had to wait another three years before he actually received the revered title of Court Capellmeister, which he hoped would bring him more respect from the local Leipzig authorities. We may monder Whether the Elector ever realized how immeasurably his musical assets had increased with his acquisition of the “Missa.”