Passions (Bach)
Encyclopedia
According to his obituary, Johann Sebastian Bach
wrote "five passions, of which one is for double chorus". Two works have survived: the St John Passion (performed 1724, 1725, 1732 & 1749) and the St Matthew Passion (1727, 1729, rev. 1736, 1742), this last using double chorus. It is known that Bach wrote a St Mark Passion for 1731, but it is uncertain what the remaining missing works may have been.
Bach's copy of an anonymous St Luke Passion, BWV
246, was published in the Bach Gesellschaft
Complete Works (vol. xlv/2) but is regarded as spurious, with the possible exception of the introduction to the second half. Bach contributed some music to Reinhard Keiser
's St Mark Passion when he performed it in Weimar
in 1713, and added chorale
s for Leipzig
performances in 1725.
Picander
's libretto
for Bach's St. Mark Passion BWV 247
was once thought to have been destroyed in the bombing of Dresden
, but the recovered copy seems to show that the work was a parody of music from the socalled Trauer-Ode, Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl, BWV 198, and that some choruses were used also in the Christmas Oratorio
; the numerous reconstructions are discussed in the main article.
Bach's Leipzig
Passions were performed at Vespers
on Good Friday
, alternating between the principal churches of St. Thomas and St. Nicholas. The order of service was:
The St John Passion was described as more realistic, faster paced and more anguished than the reflective and resigned St. Matthew Passion. The St John Passion is also shorter and has simpler orchestration than the St Matthew Passion. In the 1960s it became gradually common to perform Bach's Passions with relatively small ensembles.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
wrote "five passions, of which one is for double chorus". Two works have survived: the St John Passion (performed 1724, 1725, 1732 & 1749) and the St Matthew Passion (1727, 1729, rev. 1736, 1742), this last using double chorus. It is known that Bach wrote a St Mark Passion for 1731, but it is uncertain what the remaining missing works may have been.
Bach's copy of an anonymous St Luke Passion, BWV
BWV
The Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis is the numbering system identifying compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. The prefix BWV, followed by the work's number, is the shorthand identification for Bach's compositions...
246, was published in the Bach Gesellschaft
Bach Gesellschaft
The Bach-Gesellschaft was a society formed in 1850 for the express purpose of publishing the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach without editorial additions. Their collected works are known as the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe....
Complete Works (vol. xlv/2) but is regarded as spurious, with the possible exception of the introduction to the second half. Bach contributed some music to Reinhard Keiser
Reinhard Keiser
Reinhard Keiser was a popular German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas, and in 1745 Johann Adolph Scheibe considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg Philipp Telemann , but his work was largely forgotten for many...
's St Mark Passion when he performed it in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
in 1713, and added chorale
Chorale
A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
s for Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
performances in 1725.
Picander
Picander
Picander was the pseudonym of Christian Friedrich Henrici , a German poet and librettist for many of Johann Sebastian Bach's Leipzig cantatas...
's libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
for Bach's St. Mark Passion BWV 247
St Mark Passion (Bach)
The St Mark Passion , BWV 247, is a lost Passion setting by Johann Sebastian Bach, first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday, 23 March 1731 and again on Good Friday 1744 in a revised version...
was once thought to have been destroyed in the bombing of Dresden
Bombing of Dresden in World War II
The Bombing of Dresden was a military bombing by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force and as part of the Allied forces between 13 February and 15 February 1945 in the Second World War...
, but the recovered copy seems to show that the work was a parody of music from the socalled Trauer-Ode, Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl, BWV 198, and that some choruses were used also in the Christmas Oratorio
Christmas Oratorio
The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...
; the numerous reconstructions are discussed in the main article.
Bach's Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
Passions were performed at Vespers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
, alternating between the principal churches of St. Thomas and St. Nicholas. The order of service was:
- Hymn: Da Jesus an den Kreuze stund
- Passion, part 1
- Sermon
- Passion, part 2
- MotetMotetIn classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
: Ecce quomodo moritur in Jacob Handl's setting - CollectCollectIn Christian liturgy, a collect is both a liturgical action and a short, general prayer. In the Middle Ages, the prayer was referred to in Latin as collectio, but in the more ancient sources, as oratio. In English, and in this usage, "collect" is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable...
& BenedictionBenedictionA benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service.-Judaism:... - Hymn: Nun danket alle Gott
The St John Passion was described as more realistic, faster paced and more anguished than the reflective and resigned St. Matthew Passion. The St John Passion is also shorter and has simpler orchestration than the St Matthew Passion. In the 1960s it became gradually common to perform Bach's Passions with relatively small ensembles.