Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach composed his (Latin) Sanctus in E flat from 1768–1778, when he was the director of music for the churches of Hamburg. This short and solemn work for choir and orchestra was intended for the liturgy of Communion at Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. The present edition is based on a copy of the manuscript which is preserved in the music archives of the SingAkademie zu Berlin. It was believed to have been lost following the second world war, but was recently discovered by Professor Christoph Wolff in Kiev.