Oratorios and Passions

Johann Sebastian Bach

II LIFE

Early Life
Arnstadt: 1703-1707
Mühlhausen: 1707-1708
Weimar: 1708-1717
Köthen: 1717-1723

Leipzig: 1723-1750

III WORKS

Cantatas

Motets

Oratorios and Passions

Bach composed narrative oratorios—large-scale works for voices and instruments—for Easter, Ascension Day, and Christmas. The Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, written during the winter of 1734-1735, is a series of six cantatas intended for the first three days of Christmas, New Year’s Day, the Sunday after New Year’s, and Epiphany. The text, taken mostly from the Bible and Lutheran hymns, relates the Christmas story. The story itself is told by a tenor, the evangelist, while other soloists and the chorus add commentary. The strategically placed chorales served to enlighten the congregation.

Bach is reported to have composed five passions—oratorios in which the story of the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus Christ is sung. However, only two have survived: the St. John Passion, BWV 245, dating from 1724, and the St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, dating from 1727. Both works were performed several times over the years and show numerous revisions. (Of the St. Mark Passion, written in 1731, only the text remains; the St. Luke Passion, once credited to Bach, is now believed to be the work of another composer.)

The two authentic surviving passions each consist of two sections, one to be performed before and one after the sermon. An evangelist (tenor) narrates the story of Christ’s arrest, trial, and crucifixion. Individual characters, including Christ, are sung by soloists, while the crowd is represented by the chorus. The congregation’s reaction to the unfolding drama is expressed in various recitatives, arias, and chorales.

The two works are very different in character. The St. John Passion contains impassioned crowd scenes; Christ, on the other hand, is portrayed as a sublimely calm, almost remote figure. The St. Matthew Passion radiates tenderness and love. Christ approaches mankind in his suffering, and mankind, in turn, suffers with him. In the recitative passages, Christ’s words are supported by a “halo” of accompanying strings.

The St. Matthew Passion was Bach’s most ambitious work for the Lutheran Church. It contains 68 musical numbers (or 78, depending how one counts) and calls for two choruses, a host of soloists, two large orchestras, and a special group of boy singers for the hymn tune appearing in the immense opening chorus. It lasts approximately two-and-one-half hours in performance, and its deeply emotional music is a supreme testament to Bach’s interpretive skills. In the mid-1730s the composer lovingly wrote out a clean copy of the full score, notating the biblical text as well as the hymn tune in the first movement in red ink.

Magnificat and B-Minor Mass
Organ Works
Clavier Works
Works for Solo Instruments
Works for Instrumental Ensemble
Musical Offering, Canonic Variations, Art of Fugue
Method of Composing

IV THE REVIVAL OF BACH’S MUSIC