J. S. BACH: THE PASSION ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW
Leipzig, St. Thomas’s Church, 1727-29
By Judith Eckelmeyer
(GRACE WOODS MUSIC SESSION MARCH 24 & 31, 2025)
1748 portrait of Bach
Bach in Leipzig: 1723-1750
I. Hired by the town council principally to teach at the Thomasschule, which included overseeing discipline of students and their musical training; the students were the singers for the music Bach wrote for church services:
5 annual cycles of cantatas for the church year
5 passion settings
Oratorios, masses, separate Sanctus settings, Magnificat et alia
Other duties:
Oversee music at the churches in Leipzig
Provide music for civic occasions and the university’s collegium musicum
II. Three layers of material in the Passions:
Scripture
Chorales
New libretto for contemplative moments by “Picander”, Christian Friedrich Henrici
III. Place of the Passions in the Good Friday Vespers, beginning at 1:45pm (after morning service of several hours):
Hymn
Passion, Part I (entire work performed from the back of church)
Hymn
Sermon
Passion, Part II
Motet
Prayer
Bible verses from Isaiah
Hymn
I. Hired by the town council principally to teach at the Thomasschule, which included overseeing discipline of students and their musical training; the students were the singers for the music Bach wrote for church services:
5 annual cycles of cantatas for the church year
5 passion settings
Oratorios, masses, separate Sanctus settings, Magnificat et alia
Other duties:
Oversee music at the churches in Leipzig
Provide music for civic occasions and the university’s collegium musicum
II. Three layers of material in the Passions:
Scripture
Chorales
New libretto for contemplative moments by “Picander”, Christian Friedrich Henrici
III. Place of the Passions in the Good Friday Vespers, beginning at 1:45pm (after morning service of several hours):
Hymn
Passion, Part I (entire work performed from the back of church)
Hymn
Sermon
Passion, Part II
Motet
Prayer
Bible verses from Isaiah
Hymn
End of the aria with chorus No. 60, and beginning of the recitative No. 61a (Bible words written in red) in Bach's autograph score: the recitative contains Christ's last words, and the only words by Christ sung without the characteristic string section accompaniment ("Eli, Eli lama asabthani?")
DISTRIBUTION OF PERFORMING FORCES FOR THE ST. MATTHEW PASSION
Tenor soloist: Evangelist
Tenor soloist: Evangelist
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2 Flutes (Flauti traversi)
2 recorders (Flauti dolce) 2 Oboes: 2 Oboes da Caccia (tenor oboe) 2 Oboes d’Amore (alto oboe) Violins I & II Violas Viola da Gamba solo continuo (cello, violone) |
2 Flutes (Flauti traversi)
2 Oboes: 2 Oboes da Caccia 2 Oboes d’Amore Violins I & II Violas Organ (or keyboard) and Organ and continuo (cello, violone) |
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Chorus: SATB
Daughters of Zion (the church) In Part I, Sopranos “in ripieno” (children’s chorus above the full choir) Crowd (Turbae) Apostles Followers of Jesus Priests Soldiers at Crucifixion Sung Characters: Jesus: Bass Peter: Bass Judas: Bass Pilate: Bass Priest: Bass Witnesses: tenor and alto Servant Girls: sopranos Pilate’s Wife: soprano Solo commentators: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass |
Chorus: SATB
Believers Crowd Followers of Jesus People at the palace High Priest & Pharisees |
Last measures of movement 1 and start of movement 2 in Bach's autograph score
SOME IMPORTANT TERMS
Chorale: a hymn of the Lutheran Church to be sung by a congregation; many were composed in Luther’s time (1st half of the 16th century), some by Luther himself. Bach harmonized many of them and reused them in organ chorale preludes and as a significant part of his cantatas and oratorios.
Bar form: typical organization of text and music setting of a chorale; consists of two verse lines with identical melody followed by conclusory text and a different melody.
Oratorio: A genre that is usually a sacred story told in music that is similar to an opera, but without any costumes, staging, or action. A passion is one specific type of oratorio. The genre arose in the early Baroque to substitute for opera in penitential times (lent, advent).
Continuo: an accompaniment consisting of keyboard (organ or harpsichord or other instrument such as a lute that provides harmony, and bass instrument such as cello, viola da gamba, bassoon, etc. giving a foundation to the harmony. This combo underlies almost all Baroque-era music.
Rhetoric: an approach to presenting words or music so as to move the emotions of the listener, to convince, to provoke an emotional response. This is a very old and very complex, detailed art from the classical Roman orators that was revived in the Baroque era and used to great extent and success by Bach.
Aria: a poetic text with fully developed melody and accompaniment and clear form. A typical structure is Da Capo form, with two clear sections of text and contrasting music, and a return to the beginning (“da capo”—from the head), which is performed usually with some ornamentation to a final closing point within the music of the first section.
Recitative: text that delivers a prose statement rather than a poem, so it is much less melodic and has a much simpler accompaniment than that of an aria.
There are two main types of recitative:
-Dry recitative, very plain, direct sung presentation of text little or no text repetition, with only continuo accompaniment providing very basic harmonies.
-Accompanied recitative, with somewhat more elaborate melody and more instruments accompanying, generally setting a text with greater emotional content. Some words or short phrase of the text might be repeated. Sometimes referred to as Arioso style.
Word Painting: technique of matching music to the meaning of a word, e.g. rising notes for “up” or “arise”; descending notes for “fall”; crossing pattern at “cross or “crucify”; descending bass line indicating burial, etc. Used throughout the Baroque era.
Chorale: a hymn of the Lutheran Church to be sung by a congregation; many were composed in Luther’s time (1st half of the 16th century), some by Luther himself. Bach harmonized many of them and reused them in organ chorale preludes and as a significant part of his cantatas and oratorios.
Bar form: typical organization of text and music setting of a chorale; consists of two verse lines with identical melody followed by conclusory text and a different melody.
Oratorio: A genre that is usually a sacred story told in music that is similar to an opera, but without any costumes, staging, or action. A passion is one specific type of oratorio. The genre arose in the early Baroque to substitute for opera in penitential times (lent, advent).
Continuo: an accompaniment consisting of keyboard (organ or harpsichord or other instrument such as a lute that provides harmony, and bass instrument such as cello, viola da gamba, bassoon, etc. giving a foundation to the harmony. This combo underlies almost all Baroque-era music.
Rhetoric: an approach to presenting words or music so as to move the emotions of the listener, to convince, to provoke an emotional response. This is a very old and very complex, detailed art from the classical Roman orators that was revived in the Baroque era and used to great extent and success by Bach.
Aria: a poetic text with fully developed melody and accompaniment and clear form. A typical structure is Da Capo form, with two clear sections of text and contrasting music, and a return to the beginning (“da capo”—from the head), which is performed usually with some ornamentation to a final closing point within the music of the first section.
Recitative: text that delivers a prose statement rather than a poem, so it is much less melodic and has a much simpler accompaniment than that of an aria.
There are two main types of recitative:
-Dry recitative, very plain, direct sung presentation of text little or no text repetition, with only continuo accompaniment providing very basic harmonies.
-Accompanied recitative, with somewhat more elaborate melody and more instruments accompanying, generally setting a text with greater emotional content. Some words or short phrase of the text might be repeated. Sometimes referred to as Arioso style.
Word Painting: technique of matching music to the meaning of a word, e.g. rising notes for “up” or “arise”; descending notes for “fall”; crossing pattern at “cross or “crucify”; descending bass line indicating burial, etc. Used throughout the Baroque era.
Fair copy in Bach's own hand of the revised version of the St Matthew Passion BWV 244 that is generally dated to the year 1743–46
ORIENTATION TO THE BEGINNING OF PART I:
A MODEL FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PASSION SETTING
A MODEL FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PASSION SETTING
The Passion opens with a massive expression of grief sung by three choirs with full orchestra. These choirs know the story they are about to help tell us; they are setting the mood for the rest of the Passion. With the text written by Picander, Chorus I (Daughters of Zion) invites, urges Chorus II (Believers) to help them mourn. The Daughters of Zion refer to the one they mourn, and the Believers (Chorus II), asks “whom?”; they respond, “The Bridegroom; behold him”. (Chorus II): “How?” (Chorus I): “Like a lamb”. As this Q and A continues, another melody and text can be heard above: the sopranos of the children’s choir sing the chorale “O guiltless lamb of God, slaughtered on the cross…”—the Lutheran version of the Agnus Dei.
Immediately after this monumental chorus finishes, the Evangelist begins reciting the gospel of St. Matthew (dry recitative), and Jesus speaks (accompanied reccit, or arioso), telling his desciples he is to be betrayed and crucified (notice the crossing notes of his melody on the word “crucified”, and also the strings softly playing harmony as he speaks—a “halo”).
-Both choirs together sing a chorale: “Dear Jesus, what wrong have you done?”
-The Evangelist continues his narration about the assembly of the chief priests, scribes and elders to plan to capture and kill Jesus.
-The two choirs, now comprising the priests, scribes and elders, exclaim in agitation that the capture of Jesus should not happen on the upcoming feast of Passover, or it might spark an “uproar among the people”.
-The scene shifts to Bethany, as the Evangelist continues……
I hope this brief description of the unfolding of the Passion will give you a foothold for the rest of the work. I hope you will pay attention to some of the descriptive moments, especially in the instrumental accompaniment, and the way the soloists present their “lines”. And even more, I hope you will find experiencing the presentation of this video as richly rewarding .
Immediately after this monumental chorus finishes, the Evangelist begins reciting the gospel of St. Matthew (dry recitative), and Jesus speaks (accompanied reccit, or arioso), telling his desciples he is to be betrayed and crucified (notice the crossing notes of his melody on the word “crucified”, and also the strings softly playing harmony as he speaks—a “halo”).
-Both choirs together sing a chorale: “Dear Jesus, what wrong have you done?”
-The Evangelist continues his narration about the assembly of the chief priests, scribes and elders to plan to capture and kill Jesus.
-The two choirs, now comprising the priests, scribes and elders, exclaim in agitation that the capture of Jesus should not happen on the upcoming feast of Passover, or it might spark an “uproar among the people”.
-The scene shifts to Bethany, as the Evangelist continues……
I hope this brief description of the unfolding of the Passion will give you a foothold for the rest of the work. I hope you will pay attention to some of the descriptive moments, especially in the instrumental accompaniment, and the way the soloists present their “lines”. And even more, I hope you will find experiencing the presentation of this video as richly rewarding .
Matthäus-Passion - Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle, Peter Sellars 2010 (Part 1 of 2)
Bach - St Matthew Passion BWV 244 - Van Veldhoven | Netherlands Bach Society (complete)
BACKGROUND CONTEXT
In the first half of the 18th century, Leipzig was a staunchly Lutheran city governed by a council which acted not only in civic matters but also in ecclesiastical areas. It was they who oversaw the religious life and health of the churches and thereby the town. It was they, primarily, along with clergy, whom Bach had to satisfy when he applied for the position of Cantor at St. Thomas Church. In spite of a lively culture outside the churches, Leipzig was essentially a civic theocracy. The council, in its conservative wisdom, wanted music for their churches that was distinctly free of operatic or theatrical flavor, and were at pains to select just the right person to succeed the esteemed Johann Kuhnau as Cantor at St. Thomas School. Of course they wanted someone who would see to the music of the church and city; but they also wanted a schoolteacher who would instruct the St. Thomas students in Latin grammar and catechism (Bach bargained these away) as well as music skills. Five other candidates had declined the position before the council settled on someone who lacked renown and the credentials to teach in the church school, thus someone they considered “mediocre”—Bach.
Although there were divisions within the council based on political affiliations of its members (the court vs. landed gentry), these powerful individuals were all of the Orthodox Lutheran persuasion which adhered to traditional services such as the Mass and formal theological models established in Martin Luther’s reform. Rigid and dogmatic Orthodox Lutheranism was countered at the end of the 17th century by a movement called Pietism, begun by Philipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705), Gottfried Arnold (1666-1714), and August Hermann Francke (1663-1727). At the root of the movement was a profound concern with a more intimate and emotional form Christianity that was captured in Count Nikolaus Zinzendorf’s phrase “the religion of the heart”. Akin to the “born again” Christianity of the 20th century, Pietism espoused a personalized relation to Jesus, a rebirth of the spirit leading to sincerity and fervor, and thus freedom from external dogmatic or practical formula and ceremony of Orthodoxy. By the time Bach was working in Leipzig, Pietists had produced a substantial body of sacred poetry, sermons, and meditative writings, some of which had far-reaching and long-term influence. Leipzig’s councilors were by default antagonistic toward Pietism, yet as we shall see, Bach’s work was impacted by the movement.
When Bach officially started his cantorial duties in Leipzig in May, 1723, he undertook not one job but at least three. What he considered the crux of his work was composing, preparing, and directing the music for the churches in the city. Although he was primarily stationed at one of two main churches in the city, St. Thomas, he also directed the music at it and the other principal church, St. Nicholas, and was responsible for providing music as well at St. George, St. Paul, and the New Church. Principal worship services were conducted on Sundays alternately at St. Nicholas and St. Thomas. Besides his obligations to the churches, Bach was to oversee and direct the music for all the city’s public events. Concomitant with these, he was to give musical training (vocal and instrumental) to 50 to 60 boys, generally aged 12 to 23, boarding at the St. Thomas School associated with St. Thomas Church, for they were to provide the music for the churches’ services. After some negotiation with a colleague, he was able to unburden himself of the task of teaching non-music courses at the school. However, he was responsible for maintaining order and discipline at the school and its dormitory (which was in the same building with, and immediately next to, his family’s quarters). Added to these duties were the problems of the decreasing musical preparation of the entering students, and the ongoing political wrangling within the council that spilled over into the council’s expectations of Bach’s music and his performance of his duties. These latter issues would seem to impinge most severely on Bach’s work, for he was composing music that was far more complex and demanding than that of his predecessor, Kuhnau, who had held the cantorial position at St. Thomas for the previous 22 years.
Amid the constant tumult of his daily obligations, Bach embarked on a plan to write cycles of sacred cantatas for every Sunday and feast day of the church year that would culminate in a Passion setting. Three such complete cycles exist, and portions of a fourth and fifth are extant. Fortunately, he had some earlier works up his sleeve to form the basis of the earliest weeks’ cantatas during his first year in Leipzig, during which he also produced 40 new cantatas. But there is no doubt that his plan was more than ambitious, not only in the demand on himself (and his copyists) to keep composing the music on time, but perhaps even more in the almost shocking burden he placed on his singers and instrumentalists to learn—and perform acceptably—new and ever more challenging works each week. And beyond these pressures was the obligation to satisfy the city council, his employers, that his music for the Leipzig churches was suitably lacking in operatic theatricality, even as it was to convey concepts in keeping with Orthodox Lutheranism.
By the end of his first liturgical year, Bach had given his parishioners and his employers a degree of preparation for his first Passion setting, from the account in the gospel according to St. John. Particularly noteworthy would have been the music and non-Biblical content of the work. In the music the city councilors faced an unprecedented degree of complexity, dissonance, chromaticism, rhythmic energy, and even pictorialism, bordering dangerously on their concept of the unwanted “operatic” style. Even more, some of the new-created text smacked of sentimentality and graphic vividness, leaking into Orthodox objectivity from sources such as the then-famous garish poetic meditation on the Passion by Barthold Heinrich Brockes (1680-1747).
This then-famous poetic version of Jesus’s passion had previously been set to music by a half-dozen composers including Handel. Brockes’s Passion was notoriously maudlin in its sentimentality and dwelt on the gruesome features of Jesus’s wounds in order to arouse in the reader/hearer a strong emotional response. Pulling as it did on the heartstrings, it was decidedly linked with Pietism, the polar opposite of the Orthodox orientation of the Leipzig councilors. Truth be told, it is difficult to find a Bach cantata that does not contain poetry smacking of a Pietistic bent. The poetry in the St. Matthew Passion appears to have run exceedingly close to the Pietistic Lutheran edge in arias and ariosos while still presenting the “straight” Orthodox biblical narrative. It must have sent shock waves through both council and congregation in 1724.
Despite—or because of?—the power of his 1724 St. John Passion, Bach appears to have felt it wise to temper its style and content. In the following year he presented a revised version, changing the emphasis to Jesus as sacrificial victim rather than a victor over death.
Bach’s next major passion setting, in 1727, was of St. Matthew’s gospel. Probably the better known of the two today, this work is on a much grander scale than that of the St. John Passion, requiring two complete choirs and a children’s choir, two sets of soloists (except for the Evangelist and Jesus), and two orchestras and continuos. In general, its tone is more contemplative than that of the St. John setting; there are more arias, and they are typically of the da capo type, which lengthens the performing time of the work. Chorales play a more structural role in the St. Matthew Passion, especially around the narrative of the crucifixion. And one important detail is added: Jesus’s text wears a “halo” of strings except in his cry of dereliction, “My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Bach used every tool at his disposal to bring the gospel text to life and to illuminate Matthew’s message. Some of these tools are not readily audible to a general audience. However, what is audible is rhetoric, the art of moving the audience, which was fundamental to Baroque composers’ style ever since the time of Monteverdi in the early 17th century. Bach’s success with it was one reason that he has been considered a preacher through his music.
Although there were divisions within the council based on political affiliations of its members (the court vs. landed gentry), these powerful individuals were all of the Orthodox Lutheran persuasion which adhered to traditional services such as the Mass and formal theological models established in Martin Luther’s reform. Rigid and dogmatic Orthodox Lutheranism was countered at the end of the 17th century by a movement called Pietism, begun by Philipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705), Gottfried Arnold (1666-1714), and August Hermann Francke (1663-1727). At the root of the movement was a profound concern with a more intimate and emotional form Christianity that was captured in Count Nikolaus Zinzendorf’s phrase “the religion of the heart”. Akin to the “born again” Christianity of the 20th century, Pietism espoused a personalized relation to Jesus, a rebirth of the spirit leading to sincerity and fervor, and thus freedom from external dogmatic or practical formula and ceremony of Orthodoxy. By the time Bach was working in Leipzig, Pietists had produced a substantial body of sacred poetry, sermons, and meditative writings, some of which had far-reaching and long-term influence. Leipzig’s councilors were by default antagonistic toward Pietism, yet as we shall see, Bach’s work was impacted by the movement.
When Bach officially started his cantorial duties in Leipzig in May, 1723, he undertook not one job but at least three. What he considered the crux of his work was composing, preparing, and directing the music for the churches in the city. Although he was primarily stationed at one of two main churches in the city, St. Thomas, he also directed the music at it and the other principal church, St. Nicholas, and was responsible for providing music as well at St. George, St. Paul, and the New Church. Principal worship services were conducted on Sundays alternately at St. Nicholas and St. Thomas. Besides his obligations to the churches, Bach was to oversee and direct the music for all the city’s public events. Concomitant with these, he was to give musical training (vocal and instrumental) to 50 to 60 boys, generally aged 12 to 23, boarding at the St. Thomas School associated with St. Thomas Church, for they were to provide the music for the churches’ services. After some negotiation with a colleague, he was able to unburden himself of the task of teaching non-music courses at the school. However, he was responsible for maintaining order and discipline at the school and its dormitory (which was in the same building with, and immediately next to, his family’s quarters). Added to these duties were the problems of the decreasing musical preparation of the entering students, and the ongoing political wrangling within the council that spilled over into the council’s expectations of Bach’s music and his performance of his duties. These latter issues would seem to impinge most severely on Bach’s work, for he was composing music that was far more complex and demanding than that of his predecessor, Kuhnau, who had held the cantorial position at St. Thomas for the previous 22 years.
Amid the constant tumult of his daily obligations, Bach embarked on a plan to write cycles of sacred cantatas for every Sunday and feast day of the church year that would culminate in a Passion setting. Three such complete cycles exist, and portions of a fourth and fifth are extant. Fortunately, he had some earlier works up his sleeve to form the basis of the earliest weeks’ cantatas during his first year in Leipzig, during which he also produced 40 new cantatas. But there is no doubt that his plan was more than ambitious, not only in the demand on himself (and his copyists) to keep composing the music on time, but perhaps even more in the almost shocking burden he placed on his singers and instrumentalists to learn—and perform acceptably—new and ever more challenging works each week. And beyond these pressures was the obligation to satisfy the city council, his employers, that his music for the Leipzig churches was suitably lacking in operatic theatricality, even as it was to convey concepts in keeping with Orthodox Lutheranism.
By the end of his first liturgical year, Bach had given his parishioners and his employers a degree of preparation for his first Passion setting, from the account in the gospel according to St. John. Particularly noteworthy would have been the music and non-Biblical content of the work. In the music the city councilors faced an unprecedented degree of complexity, dissonance, chromaticism, rhythmic energy, and even pictorialism, bordering dangerously on their concept of the unwanted “operatic” style. Even more, some of the new-created text smacked of sentimentality and graphic vividness, leaking into Orthodox objectivity from sources such as the then-famous garish poetic meditation on the Passion by Barthold Heinrich Brockes (1680-1747).
This then-famous poetic version of Jesus’s passion had previously been set to music by a half-dozen composers including Handel. Brockes’s Passion was notoriously maudlin in its sentimentality and dwelt on the gruesome features of Jesus’s wounds in order to arouse in the reader/hearer a strong emotional response. Pulling as it did on the heartstrings, it was decidedly linked with Pietism, the polar opposite of the Orthodox orientation of the Leipzig councilors. Truth be told, it is difficult to find a Bach cantata that does not contain poetry smacking of a Pietistic bent. The poetry in the St. Matthew Passion appears to have run exceedingly close to the Pietistic Lutheran edge in arias and ariosos while still presenting the “straight” Orthodox biblical narrative. It must have sent shock waves through both council and congregation in 1724.
Despite—or because of?—the power of his 1724 St. John Passion, Bach appears to have felt it wise to temper its style and content. In the following year he presented a revised version, changing the emphasis to Jesus as sacrificial victim rather than a victor over death.
Bach’s next major passion setting, in 1727, was of St. Matthew’s gospel. Probably the better known of the two today, this work is on a much grander scale than that of the St. John Passion, requiring two complete choirs and a children’s choir, two sets of soloists (except for the Evangelist and Jesus), and two orchestras and continuos. In general, its tone is more contemplative than that of the St. John setting; there are more arias, and they are typically of the da capo type, which lengthens the performing time of the work. Chorales play a more structural role in the St. Matthew Passion, especially around the narrative of the crucifixion. And one important detail is added: Jesus’s text wears a “halo” of strings except in his cry of dereliction, “My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Bach used every tool at his disposal to bring the gospel text to life and to illuminate Matthew’s message. Some of these tools are not readily audible to a general audience. However, what is audible is rhetoric, the art of moving the audience, which was fundamental to Baroque composers’ style ever since the time of Monteverdi in the early 17th century. Bach’s success with it was one reason that he has been considered a preacher through his music.
Judith Eckelmeyer ©2025
Choose Your Direction
The Magic Flute, II,28.
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"(Die Liebe) mag den Weg mit Rosen streun, weil Rosen stets bei Dornen sein"
"(Love) may strew the path with roses, because roses always come with thorns" |
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