Page "Mass in B minor" Paragraph 20

The Mass was announced in the 19th century by the editor Hans Georg Nägeli as " The Announcement of the Greatest Musical Work of All Times and All People " (" Ankündigung des größten musikalischen Kunstwerkes aller Zeiten und Völker ").

Even though it had never been performed, its importance was appreciated by some of Bach's greatest successors — by the beginning of the 19th century Forkel and Haydn possessed copies, and Beethoven made two attempts to acquire a score.