J.S. BACH

 

Missae breves

 

Cantus Cölln / Konrad Junghänel

 

The four Masses BWV 233-236, composed in Leipzig between 1735 and 1744, consist for the most part of parodies and re-workings of cantata movements. As a result the four 'little' masses were long considered second-rate music; as is demonstrated by the small number of recordings available. However it soon becomes apparent that Bach succeeded in placing the reworked material in an entirely new and perfectly coherent context, limited to the Kyrie and Gloria, with just six numbers in each mass.

 

Despite their extremely varied overall character, the four works are all based on a standard formal scheme.  The Kyrie is invariably a choral movement, sometimes in several sections, whereas the more extended text of the Gloria is split into five movements: at the beginning ('Gloria in excelsis Deo') and end ('Cum Sancto Spiritu') come two large framing choruses, while the remaining text is divided among three solo movements (arias). It is worthy of note that Bach took over the bulk of the movements from just four cantatas, but then

actually used every suitable movement from those works. To these are added individual movements from at least seven more compositions. The core works are cantatas BWV 79, 102, 179 and 187 – especially appropriate for adaptation to the text of the Mass.

 

Harmonia Mundi 2cds HMC901939-40