[+] David, Hans T. "A Lesser Secret of J. S. Bach Uncovered." Journal of the American Musicological Society 14 (Summer 1961): 199-223. Translated as "Johann Sebastian Bach und Johann Caspar Kerll. Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Sanctus BWV 241." In Johann Sebastian Bach, ed. Walter Blankenburg, 425-65. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1970.
Bach's Sanctus BWV 241 is a reworking of the Sanctus from Johann Caspar Kerll's Missa Superba. Kerll designed the mass for ten concerted parts, with some doubling instruments: 2 sopranos, 2 altos, 2 basses, 2 violins, 4 trombones, organ, and violone. Bach added two oboes d'amore to double the soprano parts, replaced the trombones with violas, omitted the violone and organ, and added a new continuo line with cello, violone grosso, cembalo, and organ. Kerll's Sanctus is built in three separate sections: Bach kept the first two sections essentially intact, only quickening the rhythm in spots. The faster rhythm led Bach to abandon his model entirely in the third section, introducing a lively new motive in steady sixteenth-note motion.
Index Classifications: 1700s
Contributed by: Brian Phillips
