3 - Reception history

Summary

In surveying the reception history of the Mass in B Minor this chapter will highlight the principal events and outline the historical basis for the great variety of opinions voiced over the years and for our present perception of the work. Just as the reception can only inadequately be reconstructed from whichever materials survive, so were the early commentators limited by the manuscripts available to them and by their scant knowledge of philological issues and Bach's activity as a composer. Indeed different musicians and critics have at different times been acquainted with different works – collectively termed Bach's Mass in B Minor – depending on which sources were available to them. Even today, the major editions offer varying conceptions of the work, which colour substantially the attitudes of musicians, critics and audiences alike.

One significant element in the reception history is the changing ideological climate. Without developments of cultural outlook (and indeed musical practice) in the early nineteenth century, the Mass would never have gained the reputation it holds today, a reputation which has little to do with Bach's intentions or the function of music in his time. Only when religious works became fashionable in the concert hall, and amateurs involved in choral societies, was it likely that such a work could have had any role in active music-making. Ironically, it is on the bedrock of the reputation thus gained that performances today have become increasingly specialised and esoteric.