In 1733 J S Bach began work on the composition of a Missa, a portion of the liturgy sung in Latin and common to both the Lutheran and Roman Catholic rites, and it was first performed that same yaer during the festival of the Oath of Allegiance to Augustus III. It consisted of settings of the Kyrie and Gloria that now comprise the first part of the Mass in B Minor. The Credo was probably written between 1742 and 1745, but may have predated the Missa. The remaining parts (Sanctus, Osanna, Benedictus and Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem) were all added in the late 1740s. The Mass in B Minor did not assume its final form until Bach's last years. It may be that Bach wished it to be regarded as a monument to his skill, for it is a work based much upon his earlier music, adapted and refined to meet a sacred purpose.

The highly rated early music group La Petite Bande was founded in Belgium in 1972 by Sigiswald Kuijken at the request of the record company Deutsche Harmonia Mundi in order to record Lully's "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme" with the conductor Gustav Leonhardt. Having initially concentrated mainly on French music, the orchestra's repertoire has expanded over the years to include music by the Italian masters and that of Bach, Händel, Gluck, Haydn and Mozart. This present recording of The Bach B Minor Mass uses a version where the text is sung by single voices, and a small scale choir. The recording is being made available as a double SACD hybrid set.