Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of cantor ...

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

provided

Passion music 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 ...

for

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 Holy ...

services in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. The extant ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It se ...

'' and ''

St John Passion The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (german: Johannes-Passion, link=no), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the older of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as dire ...

'' are Passion

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 ...

s composed by Bach.

Passions composed and/or staged by Bach

According to his "", the 1754

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

written by Johann Friedrich Agricola and the composer's son Carl Philipp Emanuel, Bach wrote "five Passions, of which one is for double chorus". The double chorus one is easily identified as the ''St Matthew Passion''. The ''St John Passion'' is the only extant other one that is certainly composed by Bach. The

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. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major li ...

of the '' St Mark Passion'' was published in Bach's time, allowing reconstruction based on the pieces Bach is known to have

parodied A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

for its composition, while the extant '' St Luke Passion'' likely contains little or no music composed by Bach. Which Bach compositions, apart from the known ones, may have been meant in the obituary remains uncertain. The ''St John Passion'' is shorter and has simpler

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

than the ''St Matthew Passion''. The ''St John Passion'' has been described as more realistic, faster paced and more anguished than the reflective and resigned ''St. Matthew Passion''.

''St John Passion''

The ''St John Passion'',

BWV The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2 ...

245 is the first Passion Bach composed during his tenure as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, a tenure that started after the Easter season of 1723. Apart from the German translation of parts of the Gospel of St John and several Lutheran

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 th ...

s, it used text of the ''

Brockes Passion The ''Brockes Passion'', or ' (title in English: ''The Story of Jesus, Suffering and Dying for the Sins of the World''), is a German oratorio libretto by Barthold Heinrich Brockes, first published in 1712 and going through 30 or so editions in ...

'' for its arias. The Passion was performed on Good Friday of 1724, 1725, 1732 and 1749.

''St Matthew Passion''

The double chorus ''St Matthew Passion'', BWV 244 was composed on a libretto by

Picander Christian Friedrich Henrici (January 14, 1700 – May 10, 1764), writing under the pen name Picander, was a German poet and librettist for many of the cantatas which Johann Sebastian Bach composed in Leipzig. Henrici was born in Stolpen. He stud ...

for Good Friday of 1727 and/or 1729. After revision the Passion was performed again in 1736 and 1742.

''St Luke Passion''

Bach's copy of an anonymous ''St Luke Passion'',

246, was published in the

Bach Gesellschaft The German Bach-Gesellschaft (Bach Society) was a society formed in 1850 for the express purpose of publishing the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach without editorial additions. The collected works are known as the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausg ...

Complete Works (vol. xlv/2) but is regarded as spurious, with the possible exception of the introduction to the second half.

''St Mark Passion''

Bach wrote the ''St Mark Passion'', BWV 247 for 1731. Picander's libretto for the Passion was once thought to have been destroyed in the

bombing of Dresden in World War II The bombing of Dresden was a joint British and American aerial bombing attack on the city of Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony, during World War II. In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 772 heavy bombers of the Roya ...

, but the recovered copy seems to show that the work was a parody of music from the so-called ''Trauer-Ode'', ''Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl'', BWV 198, and that some choruses were used also in the

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance on one of ...

. There are several reconstructions of the Passion.

Other Passions

In his 1802 Bach-biography

Johann Nikolaus Forkel Johann Nikolaus Forkel (22 February 1749 – 20 March 1818) was a German musicologist and music theorist, generally regarded as among the founders of modern musicology. His publications include '' Johann Sebastian Bach: His Life, Art, and Wo ...

repeats what is in the "Nekrolog" regarding the number of Passions composed by Bach. In his 1850 Bach-biography Carl L. Hilgenfeldt attempts to identify all five of the Passions mentioned in the "Nekrolog" and by Forkel. After mentioning the ''St Matthew'', the ''St John'', the ''St Luke'' and Picander's libretto of the lost ''St Mark'', Hilgenfeldt mentions a Passion Bach would have composed in 1717, which was the last year Bach was employed in Weimar. Thus the "fifth" Passion possibly refers to Passion music Bach composed before his tenure as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, parts of which may have been recuperated in his extant Passions.Amati-Camperi, Alexandra."J.S. BACH: Johannes-Passion"
a
San Francisco Bach Choir website.
March 2008. It may also refer to one of the Passion oratorio

pasticcio In music, a ''pasticcio'' or ''pastiche'' is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, o ...

s Bach was involved in and/or to a setting of

's ''Erbauliche Gedanken auf den Grünen Donnerstag und Charfreitag über den Leidenden Jesum'', published in 1725.

''Weimarer Passion''

'' Weimarer Passion'', BWV deest, BC D 1, refers to the 1717 Passion mentioned by Hilgenfeldt. It appears to have been performed at the court in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

26 March 1717. Bach appears to have recuperated some of its material in later compositions, notably in his ''St John Passion''.

''Jesus Christus ist um unsrer Missetat willen verwundet''

In the early 1710s Bach staged '' Jesus Christus ist um unsrer Missetat willen verwundet'', a St Mark Passion, in Weimar.Bach Digital Work at Bach added some of his own

settings to that Passion which was probably composed by Gottfried Keiser (older attributions of the original work are to Reinhard Keiser, Gottfried's son, and later to Friedrich Nicolaus Brauns).Friedrich Nicolaus Brauns: Markus-Passion
at This Weimar version is known as BC 5a. He staged a new version of this St Mark Passion

, BC 5b, in Leipzig in 1726, and finally, expanded with some arias from

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's ''

'', again in the last years of his life ( BNB I/K/2).

''Erbauliche Gedanken auf den Grünen Donnerstag und Charfreitag über den Leidenden Jesum''

The Passion text included in Picander's ''

Sammlung Erbaulicher Gedanken Christian Friedrich Henrici (January 14, 1700 – May 10, 1764), writing under the pen name Picander, was a German poet and librettist for many of the cantatas which Johann Sebastian Bach composed in Leipzig. Henrici was born in Stolpen. He stu ...

'' was published around the time (or shortly before) Bach started his collaboration with this librettist. Bach used six parts of this Passion libretto in his ''St Matthew Passion'', but there is no indication he set anything else of this libretto. As such the Passion libretto was classified among the works spuriously attributed to Bach in the Anhang (Appendix) of the ''Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis'', as BWV Anh. 169.

''Wer ist der, so von Edom kömmt''

'' Wer ist der, so von Edom kömmt'', a

Passion oratorio possibly compiled by Bach's son-in-law

Johann Christoph Altnickol Johann Christoph Altnickol, or Altnikol, (baptised 1 January 1720, buried 25 July 1759) was a German organist, bass singer, and composer. He was a student, copyist and son-in-law of Johann Sebastian Bach. Biography Altnikol was born in Berna bei ...

, contains a few movements attributed to Bach, including the arioso for bass BWV 1088, and '' Der Gerechte kömmt um'' (an arrangement of a SSATB motet attributed to

Johann Kuhnau Johann Kuhnau (; 6 April 16605 June 1722) was a German polymath, known primarily as a composer today. He was also active as a novelist, translator, lawyer, and music theorist, and was able to combine these activities with his duties in his offici ...

). The pasticcio may have been performed in Leipzig in the late 1740s and/or the early 1750s.

Stölzel's ''Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld''

Stölzel-Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld-Berlin manuscript-p1

Bach performed Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel's '' Die leidende und am Creutz sterbende Liebe Jesu'' on Good Friday of 1734. This Passion oratorio, composed for

in 1720, is also known after the incipit of its opening chorus, a setting of

Paul Gerhardt Paul Gerhardt (12 March 1607 – 27 May 1676) was a German theologian, Lutheran minister and hymnodist. Biography Gerhardt was born into a middle-class family at Gräfenhainichen, a small town between Halle and Wittenberg. His father died in ...

's "

Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld "Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld" (A Lambkin goes and bears the guilt) is a Lutheran Passion hymn in German by Paul Gerhardt. The hymn text was first published in Johann Crüger's ''Praxis Pietatis Melica'', starting from the lost 1647 ...

". Bach arranged one of its arias, "Dein Kreuz, o Bräutgam meiner Seelen", as ''Bekennen will ich seinen Namen'', BWV 200. This arrangement, dated around 1742–1743, was possibly part of a cantata for the feast of Purification of the Virgin Mary.

Graun's passion-oratorios (or passion-cantatas)

Bach also knew a few passion-oratorios composed 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 Wahrenbr� ...

. He performed Graun's ''

'' sometime in the 1730s-1740s, and even had a copy of the score in his library. The same with his "Great Passion" '' Kommt her und schaut''.Klaus Steffen . "Ein Passionsoratorium von Carl Heinrich Graun in der Notenbibliothek Johann Sebastian Bachs?" in ''Bach-Jahrbuch 2008''.

Telemann's passion-oratorios

Bach also knew of a few passion-oratorios by

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 Hild ...

(his friend and Godfather to Carl Philipp Emanuel). In addition to Telemann's ''

'', there is evidence that Bach performed the original (Hamburg) version of his 'Seliges Erwägen des Leidens und Sterbens Jesu Christi' TWV 5:2a between 1732-1735.

Handel's passion-oratorio

Bach also knew of

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

's setting of the Passion text by

Barthold Heinrich Brockes Barthold Heinrich Brockes (September 22, 1680 – January 16, 1747) was a German poet. He was born in Hamburg and educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums. He studied jurisprudence at Halle, and after extensive travels in Italy, France ...

(''

''). This is exemplified by a manuscript copy by Bach and one of his principal copyists dating from 1746-1748. Bach is known to have performed this work on Good Friday 1746, and used 7 arias from it in his last Passion-Pasticcio on the Hamburg St. Mark Passion (BNB I/K/2).

Good Friday services in Leipzig

Bach's

Passions were performed at

Vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (both Latin and Eastern), Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin , mea ...

, alternating between the principal churches of St. Thomas (uneven years) and

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

(even years). The order of service was: # Hymn: ''Da Jesus an den Kreuze stund'' # Passion, part 1 # Sermon # Passion, part 2 #

Motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Ma ...

: '' Ecce quomodo moritur'' in

Jacob Handl Jacobus Gallus (a.k.a. Jacob(us) Handl, Jacob(us) Händl, Jacob(us) Gallus; sl, Jakob Petelin Kranjski; between 15 April and 31 July 155018 July 1591) was a late-Renaissance composer of presumed Slovene ethnicity.Skei/Pokorn, Grove online Born ...

's setting #

Collect The collect ( ) is a short general prayer of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. Collects appear in the liturgies of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, among othe ...

Benediction A benediction ( Latin: ''bene'', well + ''dicere'', to speak) is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service. It can also refer to a specific Christian religious service including the exposit ...

# Hymn: '' Nun danket alle Gott'' A more detailed layout of the Order of Service for Good Friday Vespers is as follows: The first time a concerted Passion in two parts was performed according to this order of service was in 1721, when

, Bach's predecessor, was given permission to perform the Passion he had composed in the St. Thomas Church. Four years earlier,

's ''

'', TWV 5:1, performed in the New Church, was the first Passion Oratorio that had been staged in Leipzig.

Structure

A first feature of the structure of the Passions Bach wrote for Leipzig follows from the order of service: the Passions needed to be in two parts, for performance before and after the sermon. A second structural feature specific for Leipzig is the recitation of the unaltered Gospel text, as in Leipzig it was not allowed to paraphrase the Gospel in Passion presentations: for this reason an unaltered setting of the ''Brockes Passion'', which contained a lot of such paraphrasing loosely based on all four Gospel texts of Christ's Passion, was not possible, although Bach returned often to Brockes' text, choosing parts of its poetry as lyrics for commenting arias after recitations of the Gospel text. For this reason Bach's Passions for Leipzig are named after the Evangelist from whose Gospel the Passion text is used. Another characteristic of Bach's Passions are the chorales set in four-part harmony that recur often throughout the compositions. These chorales, representing a Lutheran tradition, were highly recognizable, both the text and the melody, by the audience for which he wrote his Passions. It is even surmised Bach intended the audience to participate by singing along with the chorales they knew. Bach's Passions are set for an orchestra with strings, woodwind instruments such as oboes and flutes, and a continuo including organ. The Lenten period did however not allow usage of (festive) brass instruments like trumpets. The vocal forces include SATB choir (or ''double'' SATB choir for the ''St Matthew Passion'') and vocal soloists. In Bach's time none of the vocalists were women: the high voice parts were traditionally sung by treble choristers. The Gospel readings, set as a secco recitative for the

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 co ...

, complemented with recitatives and turba choruses by the characters and groups having direct speech in the text, are presented in parts of a few verses, alternating with commenting chorales and/or arias with a free verse text. In most cases the arias are preceded by non-Gospel accompagnato recitatives. Apart from these sections, Bach composed grand choral movements with which to open or close the two parts of his Passions. Schematically, this is the structure of Bach's Passions: * Part One: ** Grand opening chorus with all forces from orchestra and chorus ***Reading of a few verses from the Gospel text as a (secco) recitative, concluded by turba, chorale and/or (recitative and) aria ***Reading of the next section of Gospel text in the same way, and concluded in the same way. ***(...continue with similar units...) ***Last recitative of Part One: this unit is always concluded by a movement with chorus * Part Two: ** Movement with chorus and/or vocal soloist opening Part Two ***(...sequence of units as in Part One...) ** Closing movement(s) of the Passion including a grand choral movement.

Chronology

Bach was Thomaskantor in Leipzig from late May 1723 until his death in 1750. The Passion music he programmed for the Good Friday services is largely documented. The ''St Matthew Passion'', with its double choir and orchestra, was most likely written for the St. Thomas Church while it had two organ lofts, although Bach later also produced a version where the continuo instrument of the second choir was a harpsichord (instead of organ), so that a performance in St. Nicolas (with only one organ) was possible. Bach's first Passion presentation, the ''St John Passion'' of 1724, led to his first documented conflict with the Leipzig Town Council. Because of the bad state of the organ loft and its instruments (the organ and an harpsichord), Bach did not want to stage his ''St John Passion'' in St. Nicolas, despite it being the turn of that church to host the Good Friday service. Having announced the plan, sharp communications between Bach and the official bodies of the town ensued, with Bach having announcements printed that the service was going to be held at St. Thomas. Ultimately the Town Council decided to pay for emergency reparations at St. Nicolas, and for a reprint of the announcements where the service was announced for St. Nicolas. * 1724 (April 7): ''St John Passion'', 1st version.Barthold Heinrich Brockes (Librettist)
at * 1725 (March 30): ''St John Passion'', 2nd version. * 1726 (April 19): ''Jesus Christus ist um unsrer Missetat willen verwundet'', with additional chorales composed by Bach. * 1727 (April 11): ''St Matthew Passion'', BWV 244b.Matthäus-Passion BWV 244
at * 1728 (March 26): (?) ''St John Passion'', 3rd version.Wolff, Christoph. Bach, the Learned Musician. 2000 * 1729 (April 15): ''St Matthew Passion'', BWV 244b. * 1730 (April 7): ''St Luke Passion'', BWV 246.Lukas-Passion BWV 246
at * 1731 (March 23): ''St Mark Passion'', BWV 247.
at * 1732 (April 11): (?) ''St John Passion'', 3rd version. * 1733 (April 3): no Passion performed due to the Saxon mourning period following the death of

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as K ...

. * 1734 (March 23): Stölzel's passion-oratorio ''

''. * 1735 (April 8): ''St Luke Passion'', BWV 246. * 1736 (March 30): ''St Matthew Passion'', revised version (BWV 244). * 1739 (March 27): (?) Telemann's ''Brockes Passion'', TWV 5:1. * 1742 (March 23): ''St Matthew Passion'', revised version (BWV 244). * 1744 (April 3): ''St Mark Passion'', BWV 247 (revised version).Bach Digital Work at * 1745 (April 16): (?) ''St Luke Passion'', BWV 246 (revised version). * after 1745: (?) ''Wer ist der, so von Edom kömmt'', pasticcio containing some movements by Bach.G.F. Telemann-C.H. Graun-J.S. Bach-J.C. Altikol-J. Kuhnau ''Passions-Pasticcio''
at * 1746 (April 8): George Frideric Handel's ''Brockes Passion'', HWV 48. * 1747 (March 31) or 1748 (April 12): pasticcio Passion oratorio based on ''Jesus Christus ist um unsrer Missetat willen verwundet'' with seven arias from Handel's ''Brockes Passion''. * 1749 (April 4): ''St John Passion'', 4th version. * 1750 (March 27): ''St John Passion'', 4th version.
at (probably led by Prefect)

References

Sources

* * * Daniel R. Melamed.
Hearing Bach's Passions.
' Oxford University Press, 2005.

External links

at bachdiskographie website {{Johann Sebastian Bach