''Der Tod Jesu'' (''The Death of Jesus'') is an

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Karl Wilhelm Ramler Karl Wilhelm Ramler (25 February 1725 – 11 April 1798) was a German poet, Berlin Cadet School master. Ramler was born in Kolberg. After graduating from the University of Halle, he went to Berlin, where, in 1748, he was appointed professo ...

. In its setting by

Carl Heinrich Graun Carl Heinrich Graun (7 May 1704 – 8 August 1759) was a German composer and tenor. Along with Johann Adolph Hasse, he is considered to be the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time. Biography Graun was born in Wahrenbrüc ...

in 1755, it was the most often performed Passion of the 18th century in Germany. The poem is part of the '' Empfindsamkeit'' movement of the 1750s. It is the middle of three oratorio texts by Ramler – ''Die Hirten bei der Krippe zu Bethlehem'', ''Der Tod Jesu'', and ''Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt'' – which may have been viewed by Ramler as a libretto cycle, though they were never set as a cycle by any composer. The libretto was intended for Graun but a copy of Ramler's text was somehow received by

Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesh ...

who produced his own setting of the oratorio (TWV 5:6) in Hamburg before Graun could perform the premiere in Berlin. Ramler revised his text in 1760. The text is not a full retelling of the

Passion of Christ In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...

and it does not quote Bible texts. Instead, it presents emotively various aspects of the Passion.

Settings

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesh ...

, Hamburg 1755, TWV 5:6 *

, Berlin 1755 – the best known of the settings; it was performed yearly in many cities in Germany throughout the second half of the 18th century. The Australian premiere of Graun's

passion cantata In Christian music, a Passion is a setting of the Passion of Christ. Liturgically, most Passions were intended to be performed as part of church services in the Holy Week. Passion settings developed from Medieval intoned readings of the Gospe ...

took place on

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

2012 in

St John's Cathedral :''This list is for St. John the Evangelist Cathedrals. For St. John the Baptist Cathedrals, see St. John the Baptist Cathedral (disambiguation)'' St. John's Cathedral, St. John Cathedral, or Cathedral of St. John, or other variations on the name ...

in Brisbane with the Badinerie Players and the Brisbane Chamber Choir under Michael O'Loghlin and with Shelli Hulcombe (soprano), Bethany Shepherd (soprano), Gregory Massingham (tenor),

Jason Barry-Smith Jason Barry-Smith (born 12 December 1969) is an Australian operatic baritone, vocal coach, composer, and arranger. He works with organisations such as Opera Queensland, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Seven Network, and the Queensland Youth ...

(bass). **

Adolf Friedrich Hesse Adolf Friedrich Hesse (30 August 1809 – 5 August 1863) was a German organist and composer. Life Hesse was born and died in Breslau. He studied in his home town with the organists Friedrich Wilhelm Berner and Ernst Köhler (1799–1847). He wa ...

(1809–1863) composed an Organ Introduction, Op. 84, to Graun's work. *

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (21 June 1732 – 26 January 1795) was a harpsichordist and composer, the fifth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes referred to as the "Bückeburg Bach". Born in Leipzig in the Electorate of Saxony, he was ...

, cantata (1769) BR D 2 / Wf XIV:1, based on Ramler's revised version from 1760 *

Joseph Martin Kraus Joseph Martin Kraus (20 June 1756 – 15 December 1792), was a German-Swedish composer in the Classical era who was born in Miltenberg am Main, Germany. He moved to Sweden at age 21, and died at the age of 36 in Stockholm. He has been referred ...

to his own libretto (1776), in the ''

Sturm und Drang ''Sturm und Drang'' (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto- Romantic movement in German literature and music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity and, in particul ...

'' style *

Anna Amalia, Abbess of Quedlinburg Princess Anna ''Amalia'' of Prussia (9 November 1723 – 30 March 1787) was an early modern German composer and music curator who served as princess-abbess of Quedlinburg. She was a princess of Prussia as the daughter of Frederick William I o ...

, used by

Johann Kirnberger Johann Philipp Kirnberger (also ''Kernberg''; 24 April 1721, Saalfeld – 27 July 1783, Berlin) was a musician, composer (primarily of fugues), and music theorist. He was a student of Johann Sebastian Bach. According to Ingeborg Allihn, Kirnberg ...

as models of

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

in his ' (The art of pure musical composition) (1779) *

Christian Ernst Graf Christian Ernst Friedrich Graf (Rudolstadt, 30 June 1723 – The Hague, 17 July 1804) was a Dutch Kapellmeister and composer of German descent. He was Kapellmeister to William V, Prince of Orange and resident in the Netherlands from 1762, where h ...

(1723–1804, The Hague 1802

Compositional style

Unlike Bach's Passions, Graun's setting does not imbue the

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

soloist with the role of narrator or

Evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

, nor is the bass cast as

Vox Christi Vox (Latin for 'voice') may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Vox (DC Universe character), Mal Duncan * Vox, several characters in the anime series '' Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne'' * Gleeman Vox, from the ''Ratche ...

. The music is post-Baroque, an italianate ''

galant style The galant style was an 18th-century movement in music, visual arts and literature. In Germany a closely related style was called the '' empfindsamer Stil'' (sensitive style). Another close relative is rococo style. The galant style was drawn in ...

'', and contains little

(notably in the

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

, no. 17) or

fugal In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

movements (chorus no. 14 is a double fugue). Instead, it gives prominence to melody and voice. All

aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

s are

da capo aria The da capo aria () is a musical form for arias that was prevalent in the Baroque era. It is sung by a soloist with the accompaniment of instruments, often a small orchestra. The da capo aria is very common in the musical genres of opera and orator ...

s with stylistic borrowings from

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

arias. Grauner's

recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...

settings are highly expressive, culminating in the moving simplicity of the bass's recitative no. 23 on the

death of Jesus The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...

, "" (He is no more!). The last chorus starts quite powerfully, but then ebbs away into a mystical silence.

Movements

Graun's settings consists of 25

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

: ;Part 1 #

Chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the t ...

– Du, dessen Augen flossen #Chorus – Sein Odem ist schwach #Accompanied recitative (

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

) – Gethsemane! Gethsemane! #Aria (soprano) – Du Held, auf den die Köcher #Chorale – Wen hab' ich sonst als Dich allein #Recitative (soprano) – Ach mein Immanuel! #Aria (soprano) – Ein Gebet um neue Stärke #Recitative (

) – Nun klingen Waffen #Aria (tenor) – Ihr weichgeschaffnen Seelen #Chorus – Unsre Seele ist gebeuget #Chorale – Ich will von meiner Missetat #Recitative ( bass) – Jerusalem, voll Mordlust #Aria (bass) – So stehet ein Berg Gottes #Chorus – Christus hat uns ein Vorbild gelassen ;Part 2 #

Chorale – Ich werde Dir zu Ehren alles wagen

#Recitative (soprano) – Da stehet der traurige, verhängnisvolle Pfahl #

Duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

(sopranos) – Feinde, die ihr mich betrübt #Recitative (soprano) – Wer ist der Heilige, zum Muster uns verliehn #Aria (soprano) – Singt dem göttlichen Propheten #Chorus – Freuet euch alle ihr Frommen #Chorale – Wie herrlich ist die neue Welt #Recitative (bass) – Auf einmal fällt der aufgehaltne Schmerz #Accompanied recitative (bass) – Es steigen Seraphim #Chorale with bass solo – Ihr Augen, weint! #Chorus – Hier liegen wir gerührte Sünder A performance takes about hours.

Selected recordings

* Telemann ** Ex Tempore, Le Mercure Galant. conductor . René Gailly ** Telemann Chamber Orchestra, conductor

Ludger Rémy Ludger Rémy (4 February 1949 – 21 June 2017) was a German harpsichordist, conductor and musicologist. Biography Born in Kalkar, Ludger Rémy studied the harpsichord in Freiburg im Breisgau and continued his studies with Kenneth Gilbert ...

cpo CPO may refer to: Occupations * Certified Professional Organizer * Certified Protection Officer, a professional certification for security officers from the International Foundation for Protection Officers * Chief people officer, a corporate of ...

* Graun ** Capella Savaria, conductor Pál Németh. HM Quintana **

La Petite Bande La Petite Bande is a Belgium-based ensemble specialising in music of the Baroque and Classical eras played on period instruments. They are particularly known for their recordings of works by Corelli, Rameau, Handel, Bach, Haydn, and Mozart. Hi ...

, conductor

Sigiswald Kuijken Sigiswald Kuijken (; born 16 February 1944) is a Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor known for playing on period and original instruments. Biography Kuijken was born in Dilbeek, near Brussels. He was a member of the Alarius Ensemble of ...

Hyperion Records Hyperion Records is an independent British classical record label. History Hyperion is an independent British classical label that was established in 1980 with the goal of showcasing recordings of music in all genres and from all time period ...

2003''Der Tod Jesu''
at Hyperion Recors, with extensive details ** Das Kleine Konzert, conductor

Hermann Max Hermann Max (born 1941 in Goslar) is a German choral conductor. In 1977, he founded the Jugendkantorei Dormagen, which in 1985 became the basis of the Rheinische Kantorei and Das Kleine Konzert. In 1992 he founded the Knechtsteden Early Music Fes ...

, cpo 2009 * Kraus – with ''Kom! din herdestaf att bära'', Philharmonia Chor Stuttgart, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Helmut Wolf.

Carus-Verlag Carus-Verlag is a German music publisher founded in 1972 and based in Stuttgart. Carus was founded by choral conductor Günter Graulich and his wife Waltraud with an emphasis on choral repertoire. The catalogue currently includes more than 26,00 ...

1997

References

External links