Ever since Luther’s publication of a Deutsche Messe in 1526 theMass has assumed a place in the German Protestant service. By tradition the “Missa Brevis” or “Short Mass” – the Credo being omitted – was merely chanted in unison for the regular Sunday service at Bach’s church. But on special occasions Bach set the text to music as a work for soloists, choir and orchestra. In total, Bach produced five of these short “Lutheran” masses, where the text of just the Kyrie and the Gloria was set, each work ending with the words Cum Sancto Spiritu, Amen.

The four Masses BWV 233­-236 form a group of works that all date from the late 1730s and follow directly on from the B minor Mass BWV 232 of 1733. They are almost entirely examples of the so-called ‘parody method’, i.e. the combination of existing music with new texts, which necessitated revisions to a greater or lesser extent. These masses are based on selected movements of cantatas dating from the period 1723­-26. Their basic structure is almost identical. Each mass consists of six distinct movements. In each of the short masses, the ancientGreek text of the Kyrie is set in the “old” style – with instruments basically doubling the voices, while the various parts of the Gloria (normally two choral movements framing a set of three arias) utilize the fashionable “concerted manner.” The set of four masses, like many of Bach’s mature works, represents a compendium of the various styles of writing that were available to a cosmopolitan composer in the 1730s. With the exception of the Mass in A major, BWV 234, there is no evidence that these short masses were performed during Bach’s lifetime.

The Kyrie of Mass in G major, BWV 236, is a re-working of the opening chorus of BWV 179, Siehe du, daß deine Gottesfurcht nicht Heuchelei sei. The original words concern the pitfalls of serving God with a false heart, expressed musically by a pervasive falling chromaticism. TheGloria begins with a spectacular paraphrase of the opening of the Reformation cantata, Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79, the horn parts (minus the timpani) of the original work being given in this case to the sopranos and altos. The bass aria, Gratias agimas tibi, is a re-working of the bass aria from BWV 138, Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz, while Domine Deus and Quoniam (from BWV 79 and 179 respectively) are considerably altered from their models. The Quoniam is the most radically changed of all, its transformation underlined with a new tempo indication: adagio, that transports this music far from the sentiments of the original aria, a tempestuous movement whose text rails vehemently against “false hypocrites”. The concluding Cum sancto spiritu is an arrangement of the opening fugal movement of the 1726 cantata, Wer dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17. However, Bach dispenses with the extensive opening string ritornello, instead composing a six-measure homophonic introit for the choir over pulsing strings – the only “new music” in the entire mass.  Additionally, the original A major piece is transposed down a tone and considerably energized through the frequent interjections of the words: In Gloria Dei Patris.

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‍©Ryan Turner