Bach: The Mass in B Minor - Softcover

Stauffer, George B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300099665 ISBN 13: 9780300099669

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2003

Synopsis

In this book George B. Stauffer explores the music and complex history of Bach’s last and possibly greatest masterpiece. Stauffer examines the B-Minor Mass in greater detail than ever before, demonstrating for the first time Bach’s reliance on contemporary models from the Dresden Mass repertory and his brilliantly innovative methods of unifying his immense composition. Musicians, music scholars, students, and music lovers will find in this engagingly written book a wealth of information about Bach’s extraordinary choral work.
Stauffer surveys the roots of the Mass Ordinary text and its treatment in settings known to Bach. He looks at the events that led to the writing of the B-Minor Mass and places the work within the context of the composer’s late style. In three deeply informed chapters, Stauffer considers the individual sections of the Mass―the Kyrie and Gloria, the Credo, and the Sanctus and Agnus Dei. The book also traces the history of the work after Bach’s death, addresses specific issues of performance practice, and investigates the qualities that give the B-Minor Mass its universal appeal.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Yale Music Masterworks Series

From the Back Cover:

"Stauffer's greatest contribution to our knowledge and understanding of Bach's Mass lies in his extensive survey of the Dresden Mass repertory. . . . [He] also provides an extensive examination of issues of scoring, particularly relevant for the Credo section onwards since Bach's original performing parts-which would have provided many details concerning both instrumental and vocal scoring-do not survive."-John Butt, Early Music

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0300099665
• ISBN 13: 9780300099669
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336