For this Good Friday, we continue our journey with Bach. This time, it’s not in one of his Passions but in the great Mass in B Minor. While the Crucifixus was not originally written for Holy Week, it stands as an extraordinary meditation on Christ's suffering and burial.
Built on a somber, descending bass line repeated thirteen times, the music sighs and groans with grief. And yet, at the end, on the words “et sepultus est,” Bach does something astonishing. He does not land in E minor, but in G major. A quiet glimmer of hope. A breath. A musical exhale that whispers, “resurrection is coming.”
Here’s a recording link:
The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features five minutes of music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.
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