Editing Mass in B minor (section)

{{Short description|Mass composed by J S Bach in 1749}}
[[File:BWV 232 Et incarnatus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Bach's 1748–1749 [[autograph (music)|autograph score]] of the "Et incarnatus est", 13th movement of his Mass in B&nbsp;minor<ref>{{BDh|1048|0|2020-01-13|Source|D-B Mus.ms. Bach P&nbsp;180}}</ref>]]

The '''Mass in B minor''' ({{Langx|de|h-Moll-Messe}}), [[BWV]] 232, is an extended setting of the [[Mass (music)#Ordinarium|Mass ordinary]] by [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]. The composition was completed in 1749, the year before Bach's death, and was to a large extent based on earlier work, such as a [[Sanctus for six vocal parts, BWV 232 III (early version)|Sanctus Bach had composed in 1724]]. Sections that were specifically composed to complete the Mass in the late 1740s include [[Mass in B minor structure#Et incarnatus est|the "Et incarnatus est" part of the Credo]].

Typically for the time, the composition is formatted as a [[Neapolitan mass]], consisting of a succession of choral movements with a broad orchestral accompaniment, and sections in which a more limited group of instrumentalists accompanies one or more vocal soloists. Among the more unusual characteristics of the composition is its scale: a total performance time of around two hours,<ref name="Arkiv">[http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=527&name_role1=1&genre=93&bcorder=19&comp_id=311 Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV 232] at [[ArkivMusic]] website.</ref> and a scoring consisting of two groups of [[SATB]] singers and an orchestra featuring an extended [[Wind instrument|winds]] section, [[string section|strings]] and [[basso continuo|continuo]]. Its [[key (music)|key]], [[B&nbsp;minor]], is rather exceptional for a composition featuring [[natural trumpet]]s in&nbsp;D, although far more of the work is in this key than B minor.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Tomita|editor-first1=Yo |editor-last2=Leaver|editor-first2=Robin A. |editor-last3=Smaczny|editor-first3=Jan |last=Stockigt |first=Janice B.|title=Exploring Bach's B-minor Mass|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZbT1AAAAQBAJ|date= 2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-00790-1|chapter=Bach's ''Missa'' BWV 232<sup>I</sup> in the context of Catholic Mass settings in Dresden, 1729–1733|pages=39–53}}</ref>

Even more exceptional, for a [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] composer such as Bach, is that the composition is a [[Missa tota]]. In Bach's day, Masses composed for Lutheran services usually consisted only of a Kyrie and Gloria. Bach had composed five such [[Kyrie–Gloria Mass]]es before he completed his Mass in B&nbsp;minor: the [[Kyrie–Gloria masses, BWV 233–236|Kyrie–Gloria Masses, BWV&nbsp;233–236]], in the late 1730s, and the [[Mass for the Dresden court (Bach)|Mass for the Dresden court]], which would become Part&nbsp;I of his only Missa tota, in 1733. The Mass was likely never performed in its entirety during Bach's lifetime. Its earliest documented complete performance took place in 1859.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stlsymphony.org/calendar/view.aspx?id=3023 |title=Bach Mass in B minor |publisher=STL Symphony |access-date=2012-05-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423133403/http://www.stlsymphony.org/calendar/view.aspx?id=3023 |archive-date=2012-04-23 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.coasttocoasttickets.com/concerts/massinbminor_tickets.shtml |title=Mass in B Minor Tickets&nbsp;– Mass in B Minor Concert Tour Schedule&nbsp;– Mass in B Minor Ticket Broker |publisher=Coasttocoasttickets.com |date=2009-05-26 |access-date=2012-05-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050908042043/http://www.coasttocoasttickets.com/concerts/massinbminor_tickets.shtml |archive-date=2005-09-08 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classictic.com/en/Bach-Mass-in-B-minor/20212/143124 |title=Bach: Mass in B minor, Rome |location=it |publisher=Classictic.com |access-date=2012-05-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cityrecitalhall.com/events/id/1213/Bach-s-Mass-in-B-Minor/ |title=Bach's Mass in B Minor » St James' Church |publisher=Cityrecitalhall.com |access-date=2012-05-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320221344/http://www.cityrecitalhall.com/events/id/1213/Bach-s-Mass-in-B-Minor/ |archive-date=2012-03-20 }}</ref> With [[Mass in B minor discography|many dozens of recordings]], it is among Bach's most popular vocal works.<ref name="Arkiv" />

In 2015, Bach's personal handwritten manuscript of the mass held by the [[Berlin State Library]] was included in the [[UNESCO]]'s [[Memory of the World Programme#Memory of the World Register|Memory of the World Register]],<ref name=unesco>{{cite web
 |url= https://en.unesco.org/memoryoftheworld/registry/351
 |title= Autograph of h-Moll-Messe (Mass in B minor) by Johann Sebastian Bach
 |date= 2015
 |website= UNESCO
 |access-date= 22 January 2022}}</ref> a project to protect and preserve culturally significant documents and manuscripts.