Music: Bach's "I Believe"

This is the opening chorus from the “Credo” section of J. S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor (BWV 232). The Latin words are, “Credo in unum Deum” (I believe in one God), repeated over and over throughout the two minutes of music by many different parts. You can also hear the orchestra play the choir’s music without the words. On a first hearing, it might seem like a riot of sound, with so many parts going in different directions. But if you listen again, you’ll start to hear the parts hold together in unity. Bach creates these layers of sound to depict the whole universe declaring God’s glory—stars and planets, oceans, creatures, and nations declaring the same hope in diverse voices.