Music of the Baroque: Bach's Mass in B Minor

Music of the Baroque performs Bach's Mass in B minor, a large-scale Latin Mass setting that Johann Sebastian Bach assembled late in his career. This concert is part of the ensemble's Baroque season programming.

Bach's Mass in B minor, BWV 232, is a setting of the Latin Mass ordinary for soloists, chorus and orchestra. Bach began it with the Kyrie and Gloria he presented to the Dresden court in 1733, then expanded the work over the following years, completing the full score around 1749 with music drawn partly from earlier cantatas. Its four main sections are the Kyrie and Gloria, the Symbolum Nicenum, the Sanctus, and the closing Agnus Dei with Dona nobis pacem.

Music of the Baroque is an ensemble devoted to music of the Baroque period, and this program places Bach's sacred masterpiece at its center. The work's contrapuntal writing, its alternation of choral movements with arias and duets, and its wide range of instrumental colors are the main features a listener will encounter in the hall.

The concert takes place at the George Van Dusen Theatre at North Shore Center in Skokie, a venue that hosts concerts and shows. The evening suits listeners interested in Baroque choral music and in one of the central works of the sacred repertoire.