Bach’s b-minor Mass was assembled rather than composed. It consists, mostly, of sections from previous compositions – the Et Incarnatus Est above being one of the exceptions to this.
The composer put the piece together in 1749, the year before his death. No-one seems sure why he decided to do this but, remarkably – given its jig-saw like nature – what emerges is one of music’s great masterpieces.
For those of you fascinated (as was Bach) by the arcanum of numerology, the work is divided into 27 sections. Three is an important number in Christian symbolism (the Trinity): the Kyrie consists of 3 movements; the Gloria of 9 (3 x 3); the Credo of 9 (3 x 3), and the Sanctus and Agnus Dei of 6 which, plus the 3 of the Kyrie gives another 9: a total of 33 = 27!
0:05 Kyrie eleison (Coro)
11:07 Christe eleison (Duetto)
15:56 Kyrie eleison (Coro)
19:43 Gloria in excelsis Deo (Coro)
21:25 Et in terra pax (Coro)
26:06 Laudamus te (Aria)
30:09 Gratias agimus tibi (Coro)
33:19 Domine Deus (Duetto)
38:39 Qui tollis (Coro)
41:39 Qui sedes (Aria)
45:50 Quoniam tu solus sanctus (Aria)
50:33 Cum Sancto Spiritu (Coro)
54:14 Credo in unum Deum (Coro)
56:13 Patrem omnipotentem (Coro)
58:15 Et in enum Dominim (Duetto)
1:02:38 Et incarnatus est (Coro)
1:05:52 Crucifixus (Coro)
1:08:58 Et resurrecit (Coro)
1:12:56 Et in Spiritum Sanctum (Aria)
1:18:13 Confiteor (Coro)
1:22:18 Et expecto (Coro)
1:24:30 Sanctus (Coro)
1:29:19 Osanna in exelsis (Coro)
1:31:59 Benedictus qui venit (Aria)
1:36:22 Osanna in excelsis (Coro)
1:39:05 Agnus Dei (Aria)
1:45:17 Dona nobis pacem (Coro)
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The Art of Listening 