On the occasion of this special Bach edition, rediscover the B Minor Mass by the famous Cantor of Leipzig, performed by the Monteverdi Choir under the direction of Sir John Eliot Gardiner. 
Filmed in April 2023 in the exceptional setting of the Royal Chapel of Versailles, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B Minor is perhaps the most accomplished masterpiece of Baroque sacred music—an intoxicating work of choral beauty, enriched with dazzling arias. Sir John Eliot Gardiner presented a new interpretation with his English Baroque Soloists and the renowned Monteverdi Choir, which was widely recognized at the time for its performances of the sacred Baroque repertoire.
The origins of this legendary Mass in B Minor are fascinating. Finalized by Bach in Leipzig around 1748, two years before his death, it was assembled from his Missa Brevis of 1733—a Kyrie and Gloria dedicated to the Elector of Saxony and the brilliant Catholic Court of Dresden—along with various pre-existing pieces, such as the Sanctus from Christmas 1724, as well as newly composed sections. The result was what his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach referred to as the “Great Catholic Mass.” In essence, this is a theoretical work, not composed for a specific liturgical occasion. Instead, Bach may have intended it as his greatest musical testament, a sacred synthesis after fifty years devoted to composing cantatas and passions.
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