Bach, Johann Sebastian: Mass
Facsimile of the autograph score in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
facsimile
Johann Sebastian Bach completed the Mass in B minor in 1748/49 shortly after the Art of Fugue and shortly before his death. This late work is as concentrated and rich in compositional technique as scarcely any other work. As early as 1818, Hans-Georg Nageli enthusiastically described the Mass as the "greatest musical artwork of all time and all nations'. Since then it has been ranked as an icon of music history.
One of the primary functions of a facsimile is the preservation of such a cultural heritage, particularly when the manuscript (as is the case with the Mass in B minor) is endangered and damaged by iron gall ink erosion. Furthermore, it is moving for Bach admirers to see how in some passages Bach's handwriting reflects the effort which this last work demanded of him.
The facsimile documents and records the present condition of the complete autograph score. Older reproductions have substituted a few individual folios where the content has become difficult to read in recent years.
The renowned Bach scholar Christoph Wolff describes the work's significance in his introduction, gives an overview of the history of composition and draws attention to particular distinguishing features of the manuscript.
In the autumn of 1923, a young man produced the first music editions of his newly founded publishing house in his parents’ living room. He named his company Bärenreiter. In the spring of 1924 when Karl Vötterle came of age, he was able to register it with the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. At first, he mainly put out folk song collections, church as well as organ music including early music by Leonhard Lechner and Heinrich Schütz, at the time primarily known in specialist circles.
During the last months of the Second World War, the publishing house in Kassel was destroyed and once more a fresh beginning had to be made. With the start of the extensive German music encyclopaedia MGG – "Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart" – as well as numerous series of scholarly-critical complete editions such as the “New Mozart Edition” and the “New Bach Edition”, the visionary founder of the publisher created the basis for the further development of Bärenreiter. The musicological editions increasingly aroused interest abroad, and Bärenreiter found itself on an expansion course.
When Karl Votterle died in 1975, his daughter Barbara took over the helm, supported by her husband Leonhard Scheuch. Under their leadership, the catalogue grew significantly and the brand BÄRENREITER URTEXT was established. Finally, in 2003, their son Clemens Scheuch joined the publisher which today he is managing together with his parents. Thus Bärenreiter has remained a family business to this day and has become a company of international standing in the world of classical music.
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