The ''Brockes Passion'', or ' (English: ''The Story of Jesus, Suffering and Dying for the Sins of the World''), is a German

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 th ...

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

, first published in 1712 and seeing 30 or so more editions over the following 15 years. The most famous musical setting of Brockes' text is that by

George Frideric 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 concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

, HWV 48. The text was also set by

Reinhard Keiser Reinhard Keiser (9 January 1674 – 12 September 1739) was a German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas. Johann Adolf Scheibe (writing in 1745) considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg ...

(1712),

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is one of the most prolific composers in history, at least in terms of surviving works. Telemann was considered by his contemporaries to b ...

(1716),

Johann Mattheson Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German composer, critic, lexicographer and music theorist. His writings on the late Baroque and early Classical period were highly influential, specifically, "his biographical and the ...

(1718),

Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (13 January 1690 – 27 November 1749) was a German composer of the Baroque music, Baroque era. Biography Early life Stölzel was born in Schwarzenberg, Saxony, Grünstädtel in Saxony on 13 January 1690. His fath ...

(1725),

Johann Friedrich Fasch Johann Friedrich Fasch (15 April 1688 – 5 December 1758) was a German violinist and composer. Much of his music is in the Baroque-Classical transitional style known as galant. Life Fasch was born in the town of Buttelstedt, 11 km north of W ...

(1723) and several other composers.

Brockes' text

was an influential German poet who re-worked the traditional form of a

Passion Passion, the Passion or the Passions may refer to: Emotion * Passion (emotion), a very strong feeling about a person or thing * Passions (philosophy), emotional states as used in philosophical discussions * Stoic passions, various forms of emotio ...

, adding reflective and descriptive poetry, sometimes of a highly-wrought and emotional kind, into the texture of his Passion. The Brockes Passion was much admired and set to music numerous times in

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Germany, although to other ages and in other countries some of Brockes' poetry has seemed in poor taste. In Brockes' version of a passion, a tenor Evangelist narrates, in

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 repeat lines ...

passages, events from all four Gospels' accounts of Jesus' suffering and death. Persons of the Gospel story (Jesus, Peter, Pilate, and so on) have dialogue passages, also in recitative; a chorus sings passages depicting the declamation of crowds; and poetic texts, sometimes in the form of arias, sometimes that of

chorales A Lutheran chorale is a musical setting of a Lutheran hymn, intended to be sung by a congregation in a German Protestant church service. The typical four-part setting of a chorale, in which the sopranos (and the congregation) sing the melody a ...

, reflect on the events. Some of the arias are for the persons of the Passion, Jesus himself, Peter, etc., but

Mary the mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto. ...

also has a singing part, and fictitious "characters", the Daughter of Zion, four solo Believing Souls, and A Chorus of Believing Souls, also observe and comment.

Handel's setting

Since 1712 the German-born Handel had been resident in London. It is not known exactly why or when Handel set the text of the Brockes Passion, already used by numerous other composers, to music, but it is known that the work was performed in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

in 1719. Handel's ''Brockes Passion'' is "an entirely worthy contribution to the repertory of its genre." It is a lengthy and contemplative work for vocal soloists, choir and instrumental ensemble with some passages of great beauty, such as the duet for Mary and her son. The few choruses, perhaps surprisingly in view of Handel's later large scale choral works, are short and perfunctory in comparison with the arias, some of which are in an operatic style, others with simple accompaniment of solo oboe or

obbligato In Western classical music, ''obbligato'' (, also spelled ''obligato'') usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking '' ad libitum''. It can also be used, more specifically, to ind ...

violin.

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

was influenced by the work in his ''

St John Passion The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the earliest of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as director of church music in Leipzi ...

''. In the last decade of his life Bach used seven arias of Handel's ''Brockes Passion'' in a ''St Mark Passion'' pastiche, and even performed it in his own arrangement in 1746.

Recordings

Edda Moser Edda Moser (born 27 October 1938) is a German operatic soprano. She was particularly well known for her interpretations of music by Mozart. Her 1973 recital LP ' received the Grand Prix du Disque. Life and career Moser was born in Berlin, the ...

(soprano), Maria Stader (soprano), Jerry J. Jennings (tenor),

Ernst Haefliger Ernst Haefliger (6 July 191917 March 2007) was a Swiss tenor. Biography Haefliger was born in Davos, Switzerland, on 6 July 1919 and studied at the Wettinger Seminary and the Zürich Conservatory. Later he became a pupil of Fernando Carpi in ...

(tenor), Paul Esswood (alto),

Theo Adam Theo Adam (1 August 1926 – 10 January 2019) was a German operatic bass-baritone and bass singer who had an international career in opera, concert and recital from 1949. He was a member of the Staatsoper Dresden for his entire career, and s ...

(bass-baritone),

Jakob Stämpfli Jakob Stämpfli (23 February 1820 – 15 May 1879) was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1854–1863). He was elected to the Federal Council of Switzerland on 6 December 1854, and handed over office on 31 December 1863. ...

(bass),

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that hav ...

, Regensburg Cathedral Choir,

August Wenzinger August Wenzinger (1905–1996) was a prominent cellist, viol player, conductor, teacher, and music scholar from Basel, Switzerland. He was a pioneer of historically informed performance, both as a master of the viola da gamba and as a conductor of ...

(conductor). Archiv Produktion SKL 959/61, released 1967 *Mária Zádori (soprano), Eva Bártfai-Barta (soprano),

Katalin Farkas (soprano) Katalin Farkas (born January 5, 1954, Budapest) is a Hungarian opera singer, soprano. Since 1982 she is with the Budapest National Opera.Guy de Mey Guy de Mey (born 4 August 1955) is a Belgian operatic tenor. Life and career Guy de Mey was born in Hamme, Belgium on 4 August 1955. He began his education at the Brussels Conservatory where he was a pupil of Stella Dalberg. He pursued further s ...

(tenor), Martin Klietmann (tenor), Gunter Burzynski (baritone),

Capella Savaria The Capella Savaria is a Hungarian ensemble that perform chamber music on original instruments (and instruments based on original designs). Established in 1981, in Szombathely, they most often perform music from the 17th and 18th centuries, and ...

, Hallé State Chorus,

Nicholas McGegan James Nicholas McGegan OBE (born 14 January 1950 in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England) is a British harpsichordist, flutist, conductor and early music expert. Biography McGegan received his early education at Nottingham High School. He subse ...

(conductor).

Hungaroton Hungaroton is the oldest record and music publisher company in Hungary. Hungaroton was founded in 1951, when its only competitors in the Hungarian music market were record labels like Melodiya, Supraphon and from other socialist countries. P ...

12734/36, released 1995 *Nele Gramß (Daughter of Zion, soprano), Johanna Winkel (Believer, soprano), Elvira Bill (Maria, mezzo-soprano), Jan Thomer (altus, Judas), Markus Brutscher (Evangelist, tenor), James Oxley (Peter, tenor), Michael Dahmen (bass), Markus Flaig (Jesus, bass), Collegium Cartusianum, Kölner Kammerchor, Peter Neumann (conductor).

Carus Marcus Aurelius Carus ( – July or August 283) was Roman emperor from 282 to 283. During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Sarmatians along the Danube frontier with success. He died while campaigning against the Sassanid ...

83.428/00, released 2010 *

Johannette Zomer Johannette Zomer (born March 13, 1964) is a Dutch classical concert and opera soprano. Career After having worked as a microbiology technician, Johannette Zomer shifted gears in 1990 and studied voice at the Sweelinck Conservatory Amsterdam i ...

(soprano), Ana Maria Labin (soprano), Sebastian Kohlhepp (tenor), Rupert Charlesworth (tenor), Tobias Berndt (baritone), David Erler (countertenor), NDR Chor - Bart Van Reyn (chorus master), FestspielOrchester Gottingen, Laurence Cummings (direction). Accent ACC26411, released 2019 *Robert Murray (tenor), Cody Quattlebaum (bass-baritone),

Elizabeth Watts Elizabeth Watts (born 1979) is an English operatic soprano. Watts was born in Norwich and attended Norwich High School for Girls. She studied archaeology at Sheffield University and graduated with first class honours. Beginning in 2002, she stu ...

(soprano), Ruby Hughes (soprano), Tim Mead (countertenor), Gwilym Bowen (tenor), Nicky Spence (tenor) -

Academy of Ancient Music The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the A ...

, Richard Egarr. AAM Records AAM007, released 2019. *

Sandrine Piau Sandrine Piau (born 5 June 1965) is a French soprano. She is particularly renowned in Baroque music although also excels in Romantic and modernist art songs. She has the versatility to perform works from Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart to Schumann, Deb ...

(soprano), Stuart Jackson (tenor), Konstantin Krimmel (baritone), Arcangelo, Solisten des Vocal Consort, Jonathan Cohen (dir.). Alpha-Classics LPHA 644 Recorded: 2019, October 9–13; St. Jude's Church, London, England. © 2020 Alpha Classics / Outhere Music France • 2020 Arcangelo & Alpha Classics / Outhere Music France.

References

External links

*
Score
of ''Brockes Passion'' (ed.

Friedrich Chrysander Karl Franz Friedrich Chrysander (8 July 1826 – 3 September 1901) was a German music historian, critic and publisher, whose edition of the works of George Frideric Handel and authoritative writings on many other composers established him as a p ...

, Leipzig 1863)
German text
of ''Brockes Passion'' as set by Handel

o
Bach Cantatas Website
{{Authority control Oratorios by George Frideric Handel German-language oratorios Oratorios based on the Bible 1712 oratorios 1716 oratorios Passion settings