Bach’s Beautiful, Sad Crucifixus
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews
One of the most exquisite and poignant pieces of music I’ve ever heard is Bach’s setting of the word, “Crucifixus” from his Mass in B Minor.
Performers: Academy and Chorus of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Mariner, conductor, Essential Bach, Decca, 289 466 465-2, 2000 (www.deccaclassics.com)
The Mass is the most solemn service of worship of the Roman Catholic Church, and portions of it have been set to music down through the centuries. Some of these settings have been so beautiful and memorable that they are performed in the concert hall even today.
The Mass (also used by the Protestant Lutheran churches, of which Bach was a part) consists of sung portions and recited or spoken portions, and the Proper and the Ordinary of each. The Proper consists of texts that vary from day to day, while the Ordinary consists of texts common to every Mass.
The five portions of the Mass (known as the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei) most frequently heard in concerts today comprise part of the Ordinary of the sung portion of the Mass.
These five sections have been treated by composers as five movements of an extended work. In more recent centuries, some sections of the mass have been further divided. The “Crucifixus” is part of the “Credo” (meaning “I believe”) portion of the Mass. We get the English word “creed” from the Latin “credo.”
Musically, the orchestration throbs achingly under the suspended vocal lines. Bach uses a good deal of chromaticism (notes outside of the scale, in this case, outside of B Minor). The effect is a sense of pain, wandering, and uncertainty. He also used double sharps in the notation, a musical symbol that looks like an “X” or a sideways cross. This subtlety would only have been seen by the performers.
Its lyrics are:
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis;
sub Pontio Pilato passus
et sepultus est.
Translation
He was crucified also for us,
under Pontius Pilate he suffered
and was buried.
As an expression of devotion, sympathy, and faith, this music is unsurpassed in any music I’ve heard.
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