Bach: Mass in B minor BWV 232 by Bach, J. S., vie. 22 nov 2019, De (2019/2019), Director Leonardo García Alarcón

A life's work? Literally. The gestation of the Mass in B minor spanned thirty-five years, from 1714 to 1749, and continued well after the death of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach in 1750. In 1724, Bach himself conducted one of the movements of the Sanctus for 6-voice choir and orchestra, on Christmas Day at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Ten years earlier, in 1714, in Weimar, he had composed his Cantata BWV 12 " Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen ", the overture of which would become the " Crucifixus " of the Mass in B minor , one of the emotional peaks of the entire mass. All his life, Bach composed, without knowing it, fragments of his immense Mass in B minor concealed in his cantatas: the “ Laudamus te ” comes from his Cantata BWV Anh. I 14 “ Sein Segen fliesst daher wie ein Strom ” (1725), the “ Et expecto ” comes from the Cantata BWV 120 “ Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille ” (1730), etc. This Mass in B minor is the fruit of the so-called principle of parody: applying new words to music that was thought for other words. This principle was frequently used, and it was only after Bach that the concept of musical parody, or even revival, appeared in an unfavorable light.