Oratorio
After several years as Konzertmeister in Weimar and Kapellmeister in Köthen, Bach was appointed cantor of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig in 1723. Responsibility for both music education and musical performance in a prestigious city such as Leipzig undoubtedly marked the greatest step in his musical career. Yet the task before him was formidable: to accompany the Sunday service, a new cantata—a multi-movement work for choir, soloists and orchestra—had to be ready every week, with a text corresponding to the Gospel reading of the day. With some caution one may say that Bach’s Leipzig cantatas represent the summit of his compositional style. Here he achieved an incomparable unity of text and music, of rhetoric and expression. For certain major feast days Bach expanded his ambitions even further. For Christmas and Easter, among others, he composed oratorios that in form resemble cantatas but in scale and conception approach a religious, non-staged opera. An oratorio for the Easter season is called a Passion, or Passion oratorio, and Bach most likely composed five of them. Today the St John Passion and St Matthew Passion enjoy a particularly rich performance tradition—especially in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Of a St Mark Passion only the text survives, and two other Passions are mentioned in Bach’s obituary.
Gospel of Matthew
The St Matthew Passion is Bach’s best-known and most frequently performed oratorio. The precise dating of the work remains a matter of debate, but Bach’s magnum opus most likely received its premiere on Good Friday, 11 April 1727, in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. Bach found the libretto for his Passion in the work of Picander, a well-known poet who also wrote texts for many of Bach’s cantatas. For the greater part of the text Picander relied on the Gospel according to Matthew, while adding substantial new passages that illuminate the story from a more personal perspective. Bach composed nearly three hours of music, divided into two large parts, for vast forces: two choirs, six soloists, two orchestral groups and two organs. Typical of Bach is the symbolism and layered meaning operating on several levels. In terms of form, the St Matthew Passion is not coincidentally structured as a cross: the shorter first part describes the arrest of Christ, the longer second part his trial and crucifixion. The denial of Peter appears centrally in both parts and thus functions as the pivot where the two arms of the cross meet.
Perspectives
In essence, the St Matthew Passion consists of an alternation of choruses, recitatives and arias. The interplay between these forms follows its own logic and supports the action both textually and musically. The recitatives are largely sung by the Evangelist, who recounts the Passion of Christ in a relatively factual manner. Bach’s recitatives are sober, sometimes even unaccompanied by the orchestra, supported only by chordal formulas and containing much text on relatively few notes. In other words, this is where the action unfolds. The arias, by contrast, are sung by soloists who reflect on the events of the story. Because these arias contain no action but rather crystallise specific emotions, they set relatively little text to elaborately ornamented melodies with orchestral accompaniment. The guiding principle is clear: the stronger the emotion, the more the music takes over from the text. The choir, finally, reflects upon the action in different roles. At times it represents the voice of the gathered crowd—such as in the cry ‘lass ihn kreuzigen’, or ‘let him be crucified’. At other moments it takes the position of an outside observer—such as in the opening chorus ‘Kommt, ihr Töchter’. Elsewhere it embodies the humble believer—such as in the sorrowful chorale ‘O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden’. By placing two choirs opposite each other and allowing them to enter into dialogue, Bach creates a vivid dynamic between differing opinions of the crowd or contrasting perspectives on the action.
Affections
It is striking that the St Matthew Passion is sung in German rather than Latin, as was the case for the vast majority of liturgical compositions. The power of Bach’s Passions in the vernacular can be understood in the context of the Reformation, which had taken root in northern Germany from the sixteenth century onward. As Protestantism spread, reformers sought to bring the liturgy closer to the people. Textual intelligibility was their principal concern, creating the need for an alternative both to the elite language of Latin and to polyphony that had become so musically complex that the text was often barely comprehensible. At the same time, the idea emerged that not only the text but also the music itself should convey the religious message. Composers of the German Baroque therefore strove to bring text and music into the closest possible relationship. Music was understood as a form of rhetoric: through certain melodic or rhythmic formulas, harmonic turns or instrumental combinations, it could evoke specific emotions or ‘affections’ in the listener. The result is music that illustrates both the literal and figurative meaning of the text. It is precisely here that Bach reveals himself as a master. In the St Matthew Passion, every textual reference to heaven or the divine is set to high notes, while words such as ‘buried’ or ‘death’ are sung and played in the lower register. When a storm breaks out midway through the work, flashes of lightning—‘Blitze’ in German—are painted with striking triads. Bach also introduces symbolic musical layers on a deeper level: narrative recitatives are not accompanied by the orchestra, except when Christ himself speaks.
Chorale
Alongside the pursuit of expressive ‘affections’, the chorale tradition represents the most important element of Protestant musical liturgy. A chorale is a monophonic hymn based on translated biblical texts, often set to a simple and singable melody derived from existing folk tunes. Later, these melodies also served as the basis for elaborations in the form of cantatas, oratorios and Passions. Bach’s St Matthew Passion likewise contains several chorale melodies that must have sounded familiar to contemporary audiences. Sometimes they appear clearly on the surface and are sung by the choir in four parts within a transparent musical setting. The melody of the chorale ‘O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden’—originally by the Renaissance composer Hanns Leo Hassler—returns several times. Each time Bach provides a different harmonic setting, following the logic of the narrative. In other places he weaves chorales ingeniously into his own melodies. In the opening movement, a monophonic chorale melody sung by the children’s choir pierces through Bach’s sorrowful polyphonic choral texture.
Personal reflection
Bach’s rhetorical mastery ensures that the St Matthew Passion becomes far more than a sober narrative. This large-scale oratorio is an intense experience that draws the listener in, moves them profoundly and even draws them into the action. The opening chorus ‘Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen’ immediately invites participation: the listener already knows what will happen, even though the actual narrative—the condemnation and crucifixion of Christ—has yet to unfold. The story of Christ’s suffering is therefore secondary to reflection upon that suffering. The dramatic music of the opening movement bears witness to this. Over an inexorably driving bass line unfolds a magnificent polyphonic texture of voices, lamenting with many vowels and little text. Bach also portrays characters of flesh and blood, paying particular attention to their inner emotional world—to their response to the action. When the high priest asks Peter whether he knows Christ, Peter denies it three times and thus betrays his Lord. As soon as he recognises his lack of steadfastness, he asks God for forgiveness in the beautiful aria ‘Erbarme dich’. Peter sings from the depths of his heart, his solitude underscored by the poignantly ornamented violin solo. This passage illustrates the deeply personal perspective of Bach’s St Matthew Passion. More than the story of Christ’s suffering, the oratorio concerns the individual human being and his personal relationship with the divine. Whereas Christ in Bach’s St John Passion clearly appears as the Messiah—the long-awaited saviour of humanity—in the St Matthew Passion he still seems above all human: a man whose sacrifice will only later prove to be humanity’s redemption. From the imploring ‘Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen’ to the resigned closing chorale ‘Wir setzen uns in Tränen nieder’, Bach’s St Matthew Passion is not the adoration of a newborn Saviour, but the lament for a dead man.
notes by Arne Herman
with thanks to Antwerp Symphony Orchestra
