Matthäuspassion
Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAT : Matthäuspassion
Matthäuspassion (English: St Matthew Passion or The Passion According to St Matthew) is a musical composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew to music, with interspersed chorales and arias.
History
Bach's St. Matthew Passion was probably written in 1727. Only two of the four (or five) settings of the Passion which Bach wrote have survived; the other is the St. John Passion. The St. Matthew Passion was first performed on either Good Friday 1727 or Good Friday 1729 in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where Bach was the cantor. He revised it by 1736, performing it again on March 30, 1736, this time including two organs in the instrumentation.The St. Matthew Passion was not heard outside of Leipzig until 1829, when Felix Mendelssohn performed an abbreviated version of it in Berlin, to great acclaim. Mendelssohn's revival of the St. Matthew Passion brought the music of Bach, particularly the large-scale works, to a public and scholarly attention that has persisted into the present era.
Structure
Baroque musical settings of the Passion became common in the later 17th century. Like other oratorio passions, Bach's setting presents the Biblical text of Matthew 26-27 in a relatively simple way, primarily using recitative, while arias and ariosos set newly-written texts which comment on the various events in the Biblical narrative.Two distinctive aspects of Bach's setting spring from Bach’s other church endeavors. One is the double-choir format, which stems from his own double-choir motets and the many such motets from other composers with which he routinely started Sunday services. The other is the extensive use of chorales, which appear in standard four-part settings, as interpolations in arias, and as a cantus firmus in large polyphonic movements, notably “O Mensch, bewein dein’ Sünde groß,” the conclusion of the first half—a movement this work has in common with his St John Passion—and the opening coro, Kommt, ihr Tochter, helft mir Klagen, in which the soprano in ripieno crowns a colossal buildup of polyphonic and harmonic tension, singing a verse of the chorale O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig.
The surviving manuscripts consist of eight concertato scores, used for eight soloists who also served in the two choirs, a few extra "bit parts", and a part for the soprano in ripieno. Unlike Bach's Johannespassion, where parts are extant for ripieno doubling on the choruses, there is little evidence that additional singers beyond the soloists were used in the "choirs".
The narration of the Gospel texts are sung by the tenor Evangelist in secco recitative accompanied only by continuo. Soloists sing the words of various characters, also in recitative; in addition to Jesus, there are named parts for Judas, Peter, a high priest, Pontius Pilate, Pilate's wife, and two ancillae (maids), although these are not always sung by all different soloists. These "character" soloists are also often assigned arias and sing with the choirs, a practice not always followed by modern performances. Two duets are sung by a pair of soloists representing two simultaneous speakers, and a number of passages for several speakers, called turba (or crowd) parts, are sung by one of the two choirs. The turba passages are not recitative but are conventional metric music.
Jesus' recitatives are particularly distinctive in that they are always accompanied not only by continuo but by the entire string section of the first orchestra using long notes and creating a sustained sound often referred to as Jesus' "halo." Only his final words, Eli, eli, lama sabachthani, are sung without this halo.
Interpolated texts
The arias, set to texts by Picander, are interspersed between sections of the Gospel text, and are sung by soloists with a variety of instrumental accompaniments, typical of the oratorio style.The interpolated texts theologically and personally interpret the Gospel texts. Many of them highlight Jesus’ suffering, such as the chorale “Ich bin’s, ich sollte büßen” (“It is I who should suffer and be bound for hell”), the alto aria “Buß und Reu” (portraying a desire to anoint Jesus with her tears), and the bass aria “Mache dich, mein Herze, rein” (his offer to bury Jesus himself). Jesus is often referred to as “my Jesus.” The chorus alternates between participating in the narrative and commenting on it as outside observers.
As is typical of settings of the Passion, there is no mention of the Resurrection in any of these texts. Following in the footsteps of Anselm of Canterbury, the crucifixion itself is the endpoint and the source of redemption; the emphasis is on the suffering of Jesus. The chorus sings, “tear me from my fears / Through your own fear and pain.” The bass, calling it the “sweet cross,” says “Yes, of course this flesh and blood in us / want to be forced to the cross; / the better it is for our soul, / the more bitter it feels.“
The “O Lamm Gottes” chorale compares Jesus' crucifixion to the ritual sacrifice of an Old Testament lamb, as an offering for sin. This theme is reinforced by the concluding chorale of the first half, “O Mensch, bewein dein’ Sünde groß” (“O mortal, bewail your great sin”).
Compositional style
Bach’s recitatives often set the mood for the particular passages by highlighting emotionally charged words such as “crucify,”, “kill,” or “mourn” with chromatic melodies. Diminished seventh chords and sudden modulations accompany Jesus’ apocolytic prophecies.In the turba parts, the two choruses sometimes alternate in cori spezzati style (e.g. “Weissage uns, Christe”) and sometimes sing together (“Herr, wir haben gedacht”); other times only one chorus sings (chorus I always takes the parts of the disciples) or alternating, for example when “some bystanders” say “He’s calling for Elijah” and “others” say “Wait to see if Elijah comes to help him.”
In the arias, obbligato instruments are equal partners with the voices. Bach often uses madrgrilisms, as in “Buß und Reu,” where the flutes start playing a raindrop-like staccato as the alto sings of drops of her tears falling. In “Blute nur,” the line about the serpent is set with a twisting melody.
The Matthäuspassion in movies
- The Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky revered Bach, and was, as he wrote in his diaries, particularly moved by the artistry and pathos of the St. Matthew Passion. In 1986, he used the "Erbarme dich" aria to accompany the opening credits of his last film, The Sacrifice, which appear against a full-screen detail from Leonardo da Vinci's The Adoration of the Magi.
- In 1995, the St. Matthew Passion, as performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, was featured as both the opening and closing music for the film Casino.
Notable recordings
- Karl Richter, cond. Archiv Produktion, 1959.
- Münchener Bach-Chor, Münchener Chorknaben, Münchener Bach-Orchester.
- Soloists: Ernst Haefliger, Keith Engen, Irmgard Seefried, Antonia Fahberg, Hertha Topper, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Max Proebstl
External links
- [Libretto with English translation]
- [Commentary, musical examples, list of recordings, and other information]
- [Side-by-side arrangement of the original text and an English translation]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.