Universality in Bach’s B-Minor Mass: A Portrait of Bach in his Final Years*

Thanks to the thriving research into Bach sources after World War II—especially the chronology research by Georg von Dadelsen ¹ and Alfred Dürr ² —the traditional image of Bach largely formed in Philipp Spitta's monumental monograph ³ has repeatedly experienced revision. Putting aside the problem of lost works, thanks to the new chronology, today we have a relatively clear image of Bach's creative activity of his middle years. Not so with the early and late works—here we are still fumbling in the dark; for the authenticity of a considerable portion of the supposedly early works has not been verified, and for the few authentic early as well as late works a precise chronology is still lacking. Most recently, however, traceable movements toward progress have been made in these problem areas with the newly discovered early organ chorales of the Neumeister Collection ⁴ and my nascent [1988] precise chronology of the late works.