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St. Matthew Passion

Program Notes

The Saint Matthew Passion was performed for the first time either in 1727 or in 1729, but the version that is always heard nowadays dates from a decade later. The famous autograph score, in which Bach used red ink to set apart the text of the gospel itself, dates from the mid 1730s. Apart from many revisions of detail such as ornamentation of vocal lines and instrumental doubling of the voices in some choruses, the main changes from the one version to the other involve altered instrumentation and the addition of movements. Regardless of the versions, the Saint Matthew Passion is the greatest work of the kind ever composed, a milestone in western civilization.

The basis of Bach's setting is Matthew's narrative of the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Christ, which constitutes both the recitative parts of the Passion and some twenty choruses of the crowd (disciples, soldiers, witnesses, persecutors, etc.). The words of Jesus are set apart by means of the addition of a full string accompaniment, a device used by several of Bach's seventeenth-century predecessors; the other persons of the narrative are accompanied by basso continuo alone, as is Jesus himself on one occasion (for the words “My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?”). And at one other theologically important point (the words of institution of the Eucharist) Jesus departs from the accompanied recitative style and moves into a very lyrical arioso. In addition, the tradition of Passion performances established in Leipzig in 1722 by Bach's predecessor Johann Kuhnau allowed many meditative interpolations into the narrative for the purpose of interpreting its meaning and heightening the emotional impact on the modern listener. Those are the accompanied recitatives, the arias, and the chorales. With such varied settings Bach is able to meet the needs of doctrinal, personal and congregational responses to the Passion narrative. Bach also introduces several great composite movements: dialogues for two choirs, for solo voice with choir or for solo voice with chorale. These and the chorale fantasies that frame Part I, serve to bring together the various branches of the community, especially the individual believers (“die Glaübigen”) and the church as an institution (called “Zion” or the “daughter of Zion”). These movements are placed at the beginning, middle, ( Gethsemane ) and end of Part I and at the beginning and ending of Part II. The sixth such dialogue, “Sehet, Jesus hat die Hand, uns zu fassen ausgespannt,” appears at a tremendous turning point that comes about three quarters of the way through Part II. It marks a major shift away from the atmosphere of the trial, crucifixion and mocking of Christ on the cross to the positive, comforting meaning of the Passion for the believer; this meaning is articulated at Golgotha, right in the midst of all the adverse events of the narrative, and it comes not long before the faith chorus “Wahrlich, dieser is Gottes Sohn gewesen.” The dialogues serve, therefore, as symbolic portals, entrance ways into the combined worlds of scripture, doctrine and personal belief that are interwoven in the Saint Matthew Passion.

The Saint Matthew Passion is an antiphonal composition, requiring two orchestras and two choirs in addition to the soloists who represent the Evangelist, the various persons of the narrative and the viewpoint of the contemporary believer. In some respects, the double-chorus aspect of the work enhances the meaning of the text, while in others it is employed according to more abstract principles of alternation. The recitatives all sound from Chorus I, as do the three choruses of the disciples: “Wozu dienet dieser Unrat?” “Wo willst du,” and “Herr, bin ich's.” On the other hand, the chorus of Peter's challengers, “Wahrlich, du bist auch einer von denen,” and the duet of the false witnesses are located in Chorus II. The arias alternate between the two choirs; nevertheless, in the scene between Peter and Judas, Peter's aria sounds from Chorus I and Judas's from Chorus II, and from “Komm, süsses Kreuz” to the end all the arias sound from Chorus I. Also, certain solos with special instrumentation sound from Chorus I: the arioso “O Schmerz” (with recorders and oboes da caccia), the aria “Aus Liebe” (flute and oboes da caccia without basso continuo ), “Komm, süsses Kreuz” (viola da gamba solo). It is noteworthy that these pieces correspond closely to the main stages of meditation on the Passion that Luther set forth. In the case of the other choruses Bach generally uses both choirs antiphonally, except for several places where a special degree of unanimity is desired; then he joins the two choruses: all the chorales are sung by both choirs together, and so are the shouts for Barabbas, the choruses “Lass ihn kreuzigen” (twice), “Sein Blut komme über uns,” “Wahrlich, dieser ist Gottes Sohn gewesen” and “Herr, wir haben gedacht.”

Bach draws upon a multitude of traditional material, both theological and musical, to create a work whose structure follows closely the biblical narrative, according to its highest place. At the same time he interprets it continually from various sides. It is now known that the source of some thirteen aria and accompanied recitative texts was a set of Passion sermons by seventeenth-century orthodox theologian Heinrich Müller (Elke Axmacher, a German theologian, made this discovery). These movements provided a means of expressing the major stages of meditation on the passion that Luther had set forth in his Sermon on the meditation of Christ's Passion (1519):

—acknowledgment of mankind's sin and guilt

—recognition of God's love as manifested in Christ's sacrifice and responding with love of God

—modelling one's life after Christ's patient suffering

These themes run throughout the meditative movements of the Saint Matthew Passion, offering many opportunities for the musical expression of torment, as well as love. The intermingling of and dialogue between guilt and love is one of the most characteristic attributes of the Lutheranism of Bach's day, with its mixture of severe orthodox and softening pietist elements.

With the aid of the various kinds of movements and of a large scale conception of key relationships Bach organizes the two parts of the Passion into scenes: Part I comprises the plotting against Jesus, the anointing at Bethany, the Last Supper, Jesus's spiritual anguish at Gethsemane, and the arrest of Jesus; Part II deals with the trial before the High Priest, the scene of Peter's denial and Judas's betrayal, the trial before Pilate, the crucifixion, Golgotha (with the shift of viewpoint mentioned above) and the burial of Jesus. Part I begins in E minor with the combined double chorus “Kommt, ihr Töchter” and chorale “O Lamm Gottes” (a third choir of boy sopranos); the chorale (which is itself in G major) floats like a banner affirming Jesus's innocence above the ground level of human guilt in the double choir. At its largest level of structure Part I can be considered a motion towards the chorale fantasia “O Mensch, bewein” which is in E major. Shortly before “O Mensch, bewein” E minor returns as the key of the extraordinarily dramatic double chorus, “Sind Blitze, sind Donner in Wolken verschwunden?” which is an outcry to hell and the forces of nature to intervene and swallow up Judas and the captors of Christ. In “O Mensch,” however, the three choirs join forces on a long chorale verse that is much more than the lament suggested by its first line. The verse, in fact, recounts the story of the atonement from the incarnation to the crucifixion. This chorale fits perfectly with the first stage of Luther's program for meditation on the Passion: acknowledgment of sin has a positive result for mankind in that it leads to the growth of faith. The E major culmination of Part I is a response to the exhortation to mankind to recognize his guilt that appears in the E minor prologue. Between these framing chorales as the predictions of Jesus's burial, of Judas's betrayal and Peter's denial and brighter sharp keys such as G major and E major for prediction of the kingdom of God and the resurrection. There exists a dynamic of key changes over a wide range that parallels the scene changes and the affective responses of the listener.

In contrast, much of Part II is dominated by the trial, to which the ten turba choruses (i.e. choruses of the crowd) lend a more agitated atmosphere. At of the trial the two “Lass ihn kreuzigen” choruses, both ponderously chromatic and severe in tone, surround a meditative oasis comprising a chorale, accompanied recitative and the aria “Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben”; here the complete Lutheran message of the Passion is compressed and centralized. The aria “Aus Liebe” in particular is juxtaposed musically with the “Lass ihn kreuzigen” choruses so that the conflict between the meditative response of the contemporary believer and the adverse events of the narrative is highlighted. Also in Part II, before the trial, Peter's repentance and Judas's despair and suicide are presented as opposing states of mind by means of two different types of violin concerto arias: the one heart-rending and expressive, the other deliberately shallow. After the trial the magnificent aria, “Komm, süsses Kreuz” for bass and solo viola da gamba (the only instance of such an elaborately chordal gamba part in all Bach's music) portrays the changing meaning of the cross — from instrument of death to emblem of redemption for mankind. And a great culmination comes at the end of the mocking chorus “Andern hat er geholfen und kann ihm selber nicht helfen!” when all voices and instruments merge in to parallel octaves for the E minor cadence on the line “[for he said] I am the Son of God.” This point initiates the turning point mentioned above. The primary key of the Passion to this point, E minor, is heard no more, a modulation of transformational character sets up the arioso “Ach, Golgotha,” and the dialogue, “Sehet, Jesus hat die Hand Uns zu Fassen ausgespannt,” announces the spiritual meaning of the crucifixion. Somewhat later, the pastorale aria “Mache dich, mein Herze, rein,” one of the most beautiful of all Bach's arias, expresses the idea of spiritual union with Christ by means of His symbolic burial within the individual heart.

In countless details, Bach molds the prevailing Lutheran interpretation of the Passion story, with all its traditional elements, into a musical structure of unusual depth and complexity that transcends its original historical function. Even more miraculous perhaps, is the fact that the beauty of the individual moment-to-moment detail is never subordinated to the overall conception. Rather, the two work together in presenting what is one of the most comprehensive mergings of musical and theological content that has ever been created.

— Eric Chafe

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