Credo in unum deum : situating Bach's B-minor Mass within a Dresden context
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Music, School of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Bevaart, Joanna Marie
issued: 2023-01-11T18:33:35Z
issued: 2023
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The purpose of Bach’s completion of his B-minor Mass has, to date, not been fully understood. Although the work was first presented to the Saxon elector as a Kyrie-Gloria missa in 1733, the fact that Bach, a staunch Lutheran, included the remaining movements of the mass Ordinary to comprise a full “Catholic” mass in 1748/49 is most intriguing. Many plausible and valid viewpoints have been hypothesized, mainly from the perspective of Bach’s own musical tendencies, interests, and circumstances. My research, however, addresses this problem from a wider, contextual point of view, seeking to find answers through contemporary mass writing at the Dresden court. Dresden’s importance is clear given its early connections to the mass, and the fact that Bach cultivated significant ties to the city for the remaining years of his life. Since the Credo movement was Bach’s last addition to complete the full mass, and is laden with structural complexity, prominent compositional choices, and interesting theological implications, it will be the focus of this study. To do so, I will explore a selection of extant Dresden Credo movements written within the few decades prior to Bach’s own Credo. The late addition of Bach’s Credo movement would have allowed him ample time to familiarize himself with these earlier, parallel versions, making the Credo movement an excellent choice for determining a possible Dresden influence. By uncovering the degree to which the Dresden Credo compositions share these musical traits with Bach’s, his purpose for writing the full mass can be better understood. To further validate these musical findings, I will also address the cultural and musical context of the city of Dresden, the mass genre more generally, and Bach’s own connections to the city. I will show how, despite Bach’s personal preoccupation with theological meaning and the stile antico, his awareness of the Dresden masses and a possible practical intention for his mass is revealed in his own Credo m…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/83628
note: CREDO IN UNUM DEUM: SITUATING BACH’S B-MINOR MASS WITHIN A DRESDEN CONTEXT by JOANNA MARIE BEVAART B. A., Dordt University, 2013 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Music – Musicology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) January 2023 © Joanna Marie Bevaart, 2023 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: Credo in unum Deum: Situating Bach’s B-minor Mass Within a Dresden Context submitted by Joanna Marie Bevaart in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Music – Musicology Examining Committee: Alexander Fisher, Professor, Musicology, UBC Supervisor Hedy Law, Professor, Musicology, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract The purpose of Bach’s completion of his B-minor Mass has, to date, not been fully understood. Although the work was first presented to the Saxon elector as a Kyrie-Gloria missa in 1733, the fact that Bach, a staunch Lutheran, included the remaining movements of the mass Ordinary to comprise a full “Catholic” mass in 1748/49 is most intriguing. Many plausible and valid viewpoints have been hypothesized, mainly from the perspective of Bach’s own musical tendencies, interests, and circumstances. My research, however, addresses this problem from a wider, contextual point of view, seeking to find answers through contemporary mass writing at the Dresden court. Dresden’s importance is clear given its early connections to the mass, and the fact that Bach cultivated significant ties to the city for the remaining years of his life. Since the Credo movement was Bach’s last addition to complete the full mass, and is laden with structural complexity, prominent compositional choices, and interesting theological implications, it will be the focus of this study. To do so, I will explore a …
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2023-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0423037
language: eng
degree discipline: Music - Musicology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Fisher, Alexander J.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/83628