Mass in B minor: Et resurrexit

In celebration of Easter, we complete the pair of parts including last week's "Crucifixus." In one of the most stunning reversals in all of music, Christ is laid into the dark grave in the lowest of lows, when suddenly "And he rose again on the third day..." bursts forth with triumphant celebration. 

Bach was a master of text. Without rushing past the dramatic parts of the story told in the Nicene Creed, he separates movements like these two for maximum contrast at those iconic first few seconds of "Et resurrexit." His personality as a composer (or, really, lack thereof) is different and less flashy from the way we see modern musicians and their fame. It is almost as though he represents a collective soul of his culture; he so neatly synthesized all of the forms that came before him and used them in complete service of this religious text. Bach is a terminal point of music like none other. 

Performance of "Et resurrexit" as part of the performance of the Mass in B minor by the Netherlands Bach Society:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FLbiDrn8IE&t=4138s