CANTATA

Cantata originally meant a piece that was sung. Many kinds of cantatas were being written in Bachs
day, the focus will be on the cantata designed for the Lutheran service in Germany in the early 1700s.
It was usually written for chorus, vocal soloists, organ and a small orchestra. It had a German
religious religious text, either newly written or drawn from the Bible or familiar hymns. The cantata
was a sermon in music. The cantata might last 25 minutes and include several different movements-
choruses, recitatives, arias and duets, it closely resembled the opera

CANTATA NO.140 BY JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

WACHET AUF, RUFT UNS DIE STIMME (AWAKE, A VOICE IS CALLING US; 1731)

MASS IN B MINOR

Bach, a Lutheran composed the most monumental setting of the Roman Catholic mass

In 1733, he wrote the first two sections (the Kyrie and Gloria) and sent them to a Catholic monarch

The Mass in B minor was completed in 1749. Much of the Mass gave new form to vocal music that
Bach had composed throughout his career. It was organised into four folders with different titles-

1. Missa containing Kyrie and Gloria

2. Symbolum Nicenum containing the Credo

3. Sanctus

4. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei and Dona Nobis Pacem