Mass in B Minor, BWV 232: Agnus Dei: Agnus Dei (Alto)

A work of great power and subtleness and a monument of the baroque era, this musical setting of the complete Ordinary of the Latin Mass is considered by many to be Bach's greatest achievement.

Bach spent two decades putting together his Mass and it was not completed until the year before his death. This epic masterpiece has been described as the consecration of a whole life. It encompasses many styles and many moods, from the first solemn and stately fugue to the energetic dance like Sanctus.

A full Latin Mass in 27 sections, there are monumental versions of the Gloria, the Crucifixus and the Credo. The Mass was too long to be performed in an ordinary service and was never played in its entirety during Bach's lifetime; the first documented complete performance took place over a hundred years after the great composer's death in 1859.