verba docent

There’s one more thing that I’d like to say about the opening Kyrie before a short wrap-up in the next post.

There is a moment in this piece that I have always found absolutely miraculous.  The first Kyrie is overwhelmingly in the minor mode, with very little relief from the sober atmosphere.  But at the end of the second ritornello statement—which, according to my theory about the Trinity, represents the Son—the second flute and second violins play the fugue subject in a MAJOR key!

Although this is completely speculative, I always think this is a moment of promise in an otherwise dour landscape—a brief glimpse of the sun (son?!) amidst the clouds.  I like to think that this is an example of Christophany, a non-physical appearance of Christ, usually outside the New Testament.

Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, Dieric Bouts the Elder, 1464–67

There is some precedent for this theory in Christian theology, since many theologians believe that the priest-king Melchizedek, who appears in Genesis, is a pre-figuration of Christ in the Old Testament.  So, according to my Trinitarian theory, if the first Kyrie represents God the Father—the Abrahamic God of the Old Testament—then perhaps this moment in the Kyrie, is a Melchizedek-like prefiguration of Christ, especially since the transformed fugue subject appears in the “kingly” key of D major.

Trumpets have long been associated with royalty, since the trumpets herald the entrance of a king.  In the Baroque period, the natural trumpet tended to play in D major (there are surprisingly few exceptions to this rule in Bach’s music), so in the lexicon of Baroque rhetoric, the key of D major was associated with kingship.  And in theological rhetoric, this means Christ’s kingship.  So the appearance of the fugue subject not just in a major key, but in D major, had a particular association with the Son– the second “person” of the “Trinity”.

Even if you don’t buy into the theology, it’s a great moment!  Have a listen—this starts with the fugue subject in a minor key, and then moves to the major, which begins at 0:16.  (If you’re following the full score, it’s mm. 73-81.)

Oh—and one other thing—this moment of the only major key fugue subject happens to be at the “golden mean” point in the movement, .618 of the way through.  Now surely that could mean something!

Recording of the “Christophany” fugue subject appearance