Mass in B minor

Setting of the Latin Mass by J S Bach. The work begins in B minor, but as a whole centres on D major; it was not composed in one piece, however, but in four sections, some of them intended for separate performance.

The Kyrie and Gloria (constituting in themselves a complete Lutheran short Mass) were written in 1733, and used to support Bach's application for the title of Court Composer to the Elector of Saxony. The Symbolum Nicenum (Creed) was written about 1748, the Sanctus in 1724, and, finally, the movements from Osanna to Dona nobis pacem about 1748. Several of the movements were adapted from earlier works, such as church cantatas nos. 11, 12, 29, 46, 120, and 171 and the secular cantata Preise dein Glücke.