 The descending tetrachord from tonic to dominant, typically in minor (e.g.A–G–F–E in A minor), had been used since the Renaissance to denote a lamentation.Well-known cases include the ostinato bass of Dido's aria "When I am laid in earth" in Henry Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas", the "Crucifixus" in Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor, BWV 232, or the "Qui tollis" in Mozart's Mass in C minor, KV 427, etc.