Liturgical Music for a New Elector:

Abstract

On February 1, 1733, Saxon Elector Friedrich August I (1670–1733; as king of Poland titled August II, “the Strong”) died in Warsaw. His sole legitimate son, Electoral Prince Friedrich August (1696– 1763), then succeeded as Saxon Elector Friedrich August II. Upon succession, the new elector received many petitions and musical gifts, including a Missa, BWV 232¹—the Kyrie and Gloria from the Mass Ordinary—which Johann Sebastian Bach deposited in Dresden together with a petition dated July 27, 1733. Bach sought the protection of the most powerful patron in the land with this musical offering, a work that could...