Bach’s four Missa brevis
With the Chœur Saint-Laurent
Directed by Philippe Bourque
Soloists, choir and orchestra
The final purpose of the four Missa brevis or Lutheran Masses Bach composed between 1737 and 1748 was never known. Traditionally, they would comprise only the Kyrie and Gloria, which would be divided in five movements. People sometimes look down on them because Bach added arias and chorals from earlier cantatas, when adapting to Latin speech, but they forget that the monumental Mass in B was also a “parody”… All in all, it is an unmissable occasion to rediscover these magnificent pieces, too often forgotten.