Editing Mass in B minor (section)

=== In Bach's lifetime ===
Bach conducted the Sanctus, in its first version, at the 1724 Christmas service in Leipzig, and re-used it in Christmas services in the mid-1740s.<ref name="Gregory Butler 1992 pp. 65"/> Scholars differ on whether he ever performed the 1733 Missa. [[Arnold Schering]] (in 1936) asserted that it was performed in Leipzig on April 26, 1733, when Augustus III of Poland visited the town, but modern scholars reject his argument for several reasons:

# the proposed date fell during an official period of mourning "when concerted music was forbidden in Saxon churches";<ref>George F. Stauffer, ''Bach, the Mass in B Minor: The Great Catholic Mass'', Yale University Press, 2003, {{ISBN|978-0-300-09966-9}}, p. 34.</ref>
# the extant parts (on which Schering based his hypothesis) are written on a paper found only in documents in Dresden, so were probably copied in Dresden when Bach went there in July;<ref>Stauffer, ''Bach: The Mass in B Minor'', pp. 34.</ref> and
# the copyists were not Bach's usual ones, but Bach and immediate family members who traveled with him to Dresden: his wife [[Anna Magdalena Bach|Anna Magdalena]], and sons [[Wilhelm Friedemann Bach|Wilhelm Friedemann]] and [[Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach|Carl Philipp Emanuel]]. It also appears that the Bach family employed a copyist in Dresden to assist them.<ref>Stauffer, ''Bach, the Mass in B Minor: The Great Catholic Mass'' p. 34.</ref><ref>John Butt, ''Bach: Mass in B Minor'' (Cambridge Music Handbooks), Cambridge University Press, 1991, {{ISBN|978-0-521-38716-3}}, pp. 10–11.</ref>

Scholars differ, however, on whether the Missa was performed in July in Dresden. Christoph Wolff argues that on July 26, 1733, at the [[Sophienkirche]] in Dresden, where Wilhelm Friedemann Bach had been organist since June, it "was definitely performed ... as evidenced by the extant Dresden performing parts and by the inscription on the title wrapper" given to the king the next day.<ref>Christoph Wolff, ''Bach: The Learned Musician'', W.W. Norton, 2000, pp. 368–370, {{ISBN|0-393-04825-X}}</ref> [[Hans-Joachim Schulze]] made this case by pointing to the use of the past tense in the wrapper's inscription: "To his royal majesty was shown with the enclosed Missa ... the humble devotion of the author J. S. Bach."<ref>"Gegen /S..Koniglichen Hoheit und/ ChurFurstlichen Durchlaucht zu/ Sachssen/ besizgte mit inliegener/ Missa ... Seine unterthanigste Devotion der Autor J. S. Bach"; translation John Butt, ''Bach: Mass in B Minor'' pp. 11–12.</ref> However, Joshua Rifkin rejects the argument, pointing out that the past-tense wording was typical of formal address often not related to performance.<ref>Joshua Rifkin, Review of facsimile editions of Bach's Mass in B Minor, Notes 44 (1988), pp. 787–98</ref> Also skeptical is [[Peter Williams (musicologist)|Peter Williams]], who notes that "there is no record of performers being assembled for such an event, and in August 1731 Friedemann reported that the Sophienkirche organ was badly out of tune."<ref>Peter Williams, ''J.S. Bach: A Life in Music'', Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 219–20, {{ISBN|978-0-521-87074-0}}</ref> However, there is evidence of an [[Organ (music)|organ]] recital by Bach at the Sophienkirche on 14 September 1731, and Friedemann Bach was only chosen as Organist for the institution on 23 June 1733. He would again perform a 2-hour Organ recital on 1 December 1736 at the [[Frauenkirche Dresden]] to inaugurate the new [[Gottfried Silbermann]] organ.

Scholars agree that no other public performances took place in Bach's lifetime, although Butt raises the possibility that there may have been a private performance or read-through of the Symbolum Nicenum late in Bach's life.<ref>John Butt, ''Bach: Mass in B Minor'', pp. 20–21.</ref>