Page - 94 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 05/01

and are “innocents” by definition. Or rather, the innocence of the children is attributed to John the Baptist precisely through this musical theme, creating a narrative continuity. BACH’S COMPOSITIONS: FROM THE CONCERTO IN C MINOR BWM 1 060 TO THE ST. MATTHEW PASSION The Adagio from the Concerto in C minor BWV 1 060 by Johann Sebastian Bach is another musical motif. Pasolini had a great liking for Bach, whose compositions ap- pear in various of his films, including his very first one, Accattone (IT 1 961). Here we might cite, for example, Andante in D minor from the second Brandenburg Concerto or the aria “Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder”, to which we shall return. Once again we have a pair of consonant scenes, this time the second announce- ment to Joseph in a dream and the multiplying of the loaves and fishes. Both are characterized by this tranquil, almost playful theme and in both an obstacle is overcome thanks to a miraculous sign. In the first case the announcement of the Angel enables the family to return to Galilee; in the second people are fed as a result of the miracle of the multiplication. And in both one can note gestures of affection – Joseph embracing his son, Jesus feeding the hungry crowd. There is also a further piece by Bach, from a Mass that is stylistically far re- moved from the Missa Luba. It is taken from the Mass in B minor BWV 232, spe- cifically the final piece of the fourth movement (“Dona nobis pacem”). The inter- nal structure of this sung Mass deserves separate analysis for its compositional richness and geometry, together with the influences of Catholic and Lutheran theology. We will instead limit ourselves here to indicating the scenes in which it appears, namely the healing of the paralysed man and the arrival of the children in the Temple courtyard. In both there is a run-in between Jesus and a group of Pharisees over orthopraxis. The theme crops up in relation to the miraculous healing of the paralysed man, which was performed on the Sabbath, and the ar- rival of children and the sick in the Temple after the traders had been driven out. In both cases the rules of the priests are broken and replaced with new teach- ings, and both represent gestures of challenge which on the one hand demon- strate Jesus’s superior power and on the other pose a threat to the Pharisees. A stepping up of this challenge occurs in concomitance with the Adagio from Bach’s Concerto in D major for violin BWV 1 042. The second of three move- ments, it is distinguished by a ground bass which expressively marks a progres- sive darkening of mood. The theme is present in three scenes of Il Vangelo secondo Matteo: the sermon at Capernaum (Matthew 12:30–31), the view of Jerusalem (Matthew 21) and the condemnation of the Pharisees in the Temple (Matthew 22:14). All three are quite close to the middle of the film, and in them the characters take up positions in two quite distinct and opposing camps: that 94 | Nicola Martellozzo www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/1