Bach - Crucifixus

Context within work, genre

• From the creed section of the mass
• Central bit of the text

Text and text setting

• Minor key prevails until the last few bars
• the nature of the bass sets the mood - Chromatic descending low mood.
• The melodic live emphasises the mood - e.g. The vocal line desends
• The parts descend in order.
• The ground bass is repeated 13 times
• The text at the very end is about the christ being buried - very low tessitura (word painting)

Melody and Rhythm 

• Vocal melody at the start uses short phrases which descends
• The second melodic idea at figure H uses chromatic intervals and an awkward augmented 2nd interval (UP)
• The alto part uses the same interval
• Very dramatic writing in the vocal lines 
• Long phrases - "etiam pro nobis" hard to manage
• Bar 25 lost of chromatisicm adds to the overall mood
• Awkward shapes in the soprano part
• The phrase lengths apart from the opening are long and angular

Tonality and Harmony

• E minor (The Tonic)
• Descending chromatic bass results in chromatic chords conveys the mood
• The bass line is harmonised differently
• Bar 2 diminished 7th, bar 3 not quite a diminished 7th chord
• Soprano comes in on "crucifixus" on a suspension (preparation, clash, resolution)
• Alto part very poignant
• Suspensions are common
• Bar 17 - Bach sometimes alters the harmonisation of this ground bass. For example he chose to use E major rather than the tonic E minor.
• Chromatically alters the chord bar 24 - moves from a bright b major chord to an a minor chord
• False relations - bar 25/26, false relation between the soprano and the bass
• the last statement moves to G major - representing the ressurection. 
• Changes the direction of the bass.
• Moves to the new key through an augmented 6th

Texture

• The introduction is melody and accompaniment
• The chords have a chordall texture
• When the vocals enter the texture becomes immitative
• There's some sequential movement of that idea
• Most of the entries are immitative
• Contrapuntel texture
• More monophonic passage from bar 29
• At figure D theres an immitative texture and uses similar shapes but this time they're inverted.

Structure

• Through composed structure
• The piece is structured through the ground bass
• 4 bar introduction (instrumental)
• Second vocal phrase repeats the same idea from the first vocal phrase
• Largest phrases from bar 13, vocals overlap with the bass.
• Ground bass bars 1 - intro
• Ground bass heard 13 times.