Gauntlet has been tossed down.

Yes, the gauntlet has been tossed! I challenge you to pick it up.

The "Crucifixus" from the B minor Mass by Bach is regarded to be one of the most seminal pieces in the choral repertoire. There is so much material to discover, uncover and embrace in this piece that I am really looking forward to exploring this with you.

Let me recap some of the background of this piece from rehearsal tonight:

The "Crucifixus" is a portion of the Creed from the Mass. The text is translated as "crucified, died, and buried for us." This line of the Creed lies exactly in the center of the Creed and also exactly in the middle of the whole Mass. If you want to get philosophical and look for deeper meaning, this is also Bach's confirmation that this whole phrase is central to our faith and our life in Christ. Everything with Bach is intentional and this kind of symmetry is a great proof of the genius found in Bach. Here are some more things to blow your mind with Bach's brilliance.

The descending half steps in the motive represent the lament and despair we find in the Passion of our Lord. The bass part in the accompaniment use a melodic device that is known as a "Lament" motif. This motif also portrays our sorrow over this cruel death. The interval between the first entrances in each part is a "tritone" or an augmented fourth which in music theory represents imperfection and Bach uses this to show the utter wrongness (I know the gramaticians will have trouble with this word, but I can't think of a more appropriate phrase at midnight tonight....) of Christ having to die on the cross for us, being innocent of all sin and transgressions. When you listen to this on the recording you will receive, listen to the last phrase of the piece, this chord progression is absolutely astounding and mind blowing.

To help you learn the movement, I will be linking the youtube recording to the blog page, so you can listen to this piece and discover bits and pieces for yourselves.

Next week, Carmella will begin the introduction of this masterpiece to you during rehearsal. We will start with looking at notes bit by bit. Don't get frustrated when we don't add the text until much later this Spring.

I think we will really be able to pull this off, but we will have to work really hard and very slow and steady. We will only focus on a little bit at a time and then put it together piece by piece. I can't tell you how excited I am about us working on this. BTW, we will begin working on Easter music in the next couple of weeks. I hope each of you grow to love, respect and enjoy this work as much as I am.