A Listening Guide to J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion

My personal relationship with the St. Matthew Passion

From my 20s onward, I have considered the St. Matthew Passion one of the great achievements of

classical music. I had the privilege of singing in the chorus for two sets of performances of St. Matthew

Passion with Harry Christophers and the Handel + Haydn Society of Boston in 2012 and 2015. Being able

to be a part of actually making this music come alive with a group of world-class musicians in Boston

Symphony Hall is without a doubt one of the highlights of my career.

The best way to experience this piece is in one sitting, with a break between the two parts. I nd it

Part I

— No. 1: Kommt, ihr Töchter, hel mir klagen

http://youtu.be/rt-mhLJl3A4 [ca. 7 min.]

Double choir, treble choir, double orchestra. The choir sings text of Picander, the treble choir sings the

chorale “O Lamm Gottes unschuldig” (O innocent Lamb of God).

The opening chorus is a solemn procession but also catches the listener in the middle of a story already

in progress; a conductor I worked with said that the tempo had to be deliberate but also feel like you

were stepping onto a moving conveyor. The rst choir, representing the Daughters of Zion, sings “Come,

you daughters, help me lament. Look!” The second choir, representing the Believers, asks “At whom?”

“At the Bridegroom; (a traditional name for Jesus). See him!” “How?” “Like a lamb.” As this dialogue

ending together on “Like a lamb.”

The opening chorus is like drawing back the curtain on a play that has already started. The Evangelist

then begins with Matthew 26, which begins just as Jesus is nishing a very heavy discussion with his

disciples. For context, Matthew 25 includes the parable of the ten bridesmaids, the parable of the ten

talents, and a section given the header, “The Judgment of the Nations” in the New Revised Standard

Version of the Bible. But then Jesus gets back to more practical matters, saying that it is only two days

until Passover, and that he will be turned over to the authorities to be crucied.

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Jesus says that one of the disciples will betray him. Choir II, representing the twelve disciples, asks,

“Herr, bin ich’s?” (Lord, is it I?) eleven times (Judas does not speak). Then the full choir responds with

the chorale “Ich bin’s, ich sollte büßen” (It is me. I alone am guilty) aer which the Biblical narrative

continues. Remarkably, the shis from narration to choir to narration to choir to chorale take just two-

and-a-half minutes. The subsequent narration — with an arioso for Jesus as he sings the words used

during the consecration of Communion: “Take, eat, this is my body” and “This is my blood of the New

Covenant which is shed for the remission of sins” — takes only another two-and-a-half minutes. Bach is

both able to take long stretches to contemplate, and to get through a lot of plot quickly and eectively.

Note that when Jesus speaks, he is surrounded by a “halo” of strings where the Evangelist gets just organ

and ‘cello.

and watch with him.

Bach indulges in some word painting here. The tenor declares, “O Schmerz! Hier zittert das gequälte

Herz” (O agony! Here trembles the aicted heart) and the bass line is in repeated sixteenth notes,

representing the rapid pulse. Aer each two lines of tenor solo, the other choir responds that all of this

suering is happening because of their sins.

The aria proceeds in much the same way. To the accompaniment of solo oboe and bass instruments, the

tenor sings “I will stay awake by Jesus.” The choir replies “So all our sins will fall asleep.” This

juxtaposition implies that this Passion is bitter and sweet at the same time.

— No. 27: So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen/Sind Blitze, sind Donner in Wolken verschwunden?

http://youtu.be/rt-mhLJl3A4?t=3166 [ca. 5.5 min.]

the end they are inging single words back and forth about “that false-hearted traitor of murderous

blood” referring to Judas.

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jumping sixteenth notes in the utes and oboes depict their delicate but deliberate footsteps. Unlike the

unexpectedly upbeat. The chorale tune would denitely have been known by Bach’s audience though

with such an elaborate setting it is unlikely that they would have been able to sing along.

Take a break here. Have a snack and some water, take a little walk. The second part is longer and more

intense.

Part II

— No. 34: Mein Jesus schweigt, zu falschen Lügen stille.

— No. 35: Geduld! Wenn mich falsche Zungen stechen

http://youtu.be/rt-mhLJl3A4?t=4326 [ca. 5 min.]

the tenor restates the Biblical text: “My Jesus is silent to false lies” going on to say that should we nd

enjoyed considerable popularity during the Renaissance. It has a fairly nasal, cutting tone, more so than

the ‘cello, and a crisp articulation. The bow is also held underhand unlike the other string instruments.

The text is: “Patience! When false tongues stab me” and Bach underscores the rst word with longer,

smooth notes, and then quick jabbing dotted rhythms under the second part.

— No. 38: Scene of Peter’s three denials

— No. 39: Erbarme dich

http://youtu.be/rt-mhLJl3A4?t=4774 [ca. 9 min.]

Peter sits in the courtyard of the palace. He is approached by a maid who says that he was with Jesus of

Galilee, which Peter denies, before heading out of the courtyard. But before he can leave, a second maid

also says that he was with Jesus, something Peter denies again but more forcefully. Not long aer this,

the entirety of Choir II says “You are one of them, we can tell by your speech” to which Peter responds

with curses and declares emphatically that he does not know Jesus. Then the cock crows and Peter

for mercy.

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Biblical narrative, a solo soprano answers:

He has done good for all of us,

The blind he has given sight,

The lame he made to walk…

…otherwise my Jesus has done nothing.

The soprano soloist is accompanied by organ, ‘cello, and two oboes da caccia, which are large oboes at

the same pitch as modern English horns but with a large ared bell that points back and gives them a

gentle, covered sound. Then she sings an aria that reects to me the central message of the entire work:

Would not remain upon my soul.

revolutionary, but Bach did this nearly three hundred years ago! The oboes have an almost vocally

expressive quality to their sound and the ute oats far above, an oasis of calm which makes the

ensuing repetition of the turba chorus “Laß ihn kreuzigen!” (Let him be crucied!) ring out in stark

contrast.

— No. 54: O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden

http://youtu.be/rt-mhLJl3A4?t=7026 [ca. 2 min.]

This chorale, sung by both choirs and accompanied by both orchestras, is still sung in the same

harmonization in churches all over the world during Holy Week. The melody is called “Passion Chorale”

and the English is usually “O Sacred head, sore wounded.” The German text is by Paul Gerhardt (1607–

1676) aer a poem attributed to either Arnulf of Leuven or Bernard of Clairvaux, one a medieval sacred

poet and the other a Cistercian abbot. As for the music, its likely origin may be surprising. It is generally

agreed upon that it comes from a very secular song by Hans Leo Hassler, written around 1600. Far from

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Jesus is on the Cross, and while it is not yet night, it is dark. (Matthew 27:45) For the only time in the

he expresses pure humanity; even he thinks that God has le him. Half the crowd misinterprets the “Eli”

for “Elijah” and says that he is calling for the prophet Elijah. The other half says, “Let us see if Elijah will

come to help him” but then Jesus cries out and, in King James’ poetic English “yields up the ghost.”

The chorale that follows is the same melody as No. 54, only it is the ninth and penultimate stanza of the

Passion Chorale text. Bach species the usual orchestral accompaniment, but most conductors opt to

have the choirs sing it without instruments, or perhaps with a so organ only, pianissimo. It is hard for

our modern ears to hear just how chromatic and tortured this harmonization is since we have heard

Stravinsky and Bartók, but for Bach it is truly remarkable. When I sang it, the conductor told us to

whisper it in the dawning realization that something cataclysmic has just happened.

Jesus’ body comes to rest, let us always remember.”

There follows one of the most dicult arias for a baritone voice to sing, not because of its technical

demands, but because of its extreme emotional content. “Make yourself pure, my heart, for I wish to

bury Jesus myself.” This is an aria during which I have heard fellow singers whisper “I don’t believe

these words myself, but I’m still crying” and this sentiment is not unique.

On April 30th of 1870, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote “This week I heard the divine Bach's St. Matthew

Passion three times, and on each occasion, I had the same feeling of utmost astonishment. Someone

who has completely forgotten Christianity actually hears it as if it were one of the gospels.” Easter was

on April 17th that year, so he must have heard it two weeks prior to his letter, but nitpicking aside, we

must remember that this is the same philosopher who declares that “God is dead.” Eighteen years later

he wrote a postcard from Paris declaring his seemingly pleased shock that the Parisian newspaper Le

Figaro had devoted an entire page to printing the complete score to the aria “Erbarme dich,” in French

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— No. 68: Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder

Bach, of course, does not let us stay in the darkness very long, for on Easter Sunday he gives us cantatas

with fanfares of trumpets and timpani like BWV 11: “Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret!” (Heaven

smiles, Earth rejoices” proclaiming the joy of the Resurrection, or the more solemn text of Martin Luther

in BWV 4: “Christ lag in Todesbanden” (Christ lay in the bonds of death) which sounds like a Passion

text but the third line says that “He has risen again and brought us life; therefore we should rejoice.”

Each of the seven verses ends with that four-syllable “H” word that we will be glad to say again in just a

few days’ time.

The recording linked to throughout is conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. It features the Monteverdi

Choir and the English Baroque Soloists, and was recorded in 1988 on Archiv with the following soloists:

Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor (Evangelist)

Michael Chance, countertenor (Arias, First Witness)

Howard Crook, tenor (Arias, Second Witness)

Olaf Bär, baritone (Arias, Pilate, Peter, High Priest I)

Cornelius Hauptmann, bass (Arias, Judas, High Priest II)

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Notes on the background and context of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion

The Forces

St. Matthew Passion is unique in Bach’s output in that it requires a double choir and a double orchestra.

Several of his motets, the “Osanna” from the b minor Mass, and a couple of cantatas specify a divided

choir, but no other work has multiple groups of instruments. As for the voices, it has been argued that

Bach wrote St. Matthew Passion for only nine singers: soprano, alto, tenor, bass in each group, and an

extra soprano in ripieno for the chorale in the rst movement and to reinforce the top line in the closing

movement of the rst part. While this is possible and has been demonstrated on a few recordings, it is

more likely that Bach’s intentions were for small choirs of both voices and instruments, which is how it

Ideally, there would be at least eight soloists, four from each choir. Originally the soloists would have

sung in the choir as well but now it is more typical for them to only sing the arias and other solo

portions.

The part of the Evangelist, who sings most of the Biblical text, is for tenor. He sings almost entirely in a

style of heightened speech-rhythm singing called secco recitative, accompanied by organ and a bass

instrument (usually ‘cello). The part of Jesus is for a bass or baritone, and he sings in a similar style but

accompanied by a “halo” of strings. There are individual solo parts for Peter, Judas, the High Priest,

Pontius Pilate, his wife, two false witnesses, two maids, and two priests or Pharisees. So that these are

not always the same voices, these parts are oen sung by members of the choir.

Each orchestra is made up of violins, viola, two utes, two oboes, and a continuo group consisting of

organ and bass instruments: ‘cello, bass, and bassoon. In addition, a Renaissance instrument called the

Matthew, specically chapters 26 and 27. Because Bach was employed by the Thomaskirche in Leipzig,

an important Lutheran church, this is in German in Martin Luther’s own translation. Bach’s personal

copy of the Luther Bible survives, complete with marginalia and a few modications to the text, but for

the most part it is faithful to what Luther translated himself. The Biblical text is sung by the Evangelist,

Jesus, the lesser characters stated above, and occasionally by the choirs when they represent the crowds,

which are referred to by the Latin turba in a musical context.

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theology of the time into the Passion (or regular Sunday cantatas) and it makes up all of the solo arias in

the work. Because all three sets of text are in German, they ow seamlessly into each other. An example

of the texts joining is found in No. 9 above, when Jesus says that one of the disciples will betray him.

This example is particularly relevant because it demonstrates a popular theological idea of the time

called the Theory of Satisfaction, where in order to enjoy the benets of salvation and forgiveness of

sins, the believer has to admit their own complicity in Jesus’ suering and death. One movement (“Sind

Blitze, sind Donner” which is No. 27) has text from Heinrich Brockes Passion of 1712, the Handel and

Telemann settings of which Bach is known to have performed in Leipzig.

The Music

These were examined in the notes that accompany the individual movements.

Bach’s Passions were performed at Vespers on Good Friday in Leipzig, alternating annually between the

Thomaskirche and the Nikolaikirche. The service was a long one; between the two halves of the Passion

a sermon of about an hour’s length would have been preached as well as a reading of the text upon

which the sermon was being preached. There were also four congregational hymns and a choral motet of

one of the traditional Tenebrae responses for Good Friday. The service ended with the singing of the

hymn “Nun danket alle Gott” (Now thank we all our God). Bach’s Passions are between two and three

hours of music, the sermon an hour, with at least another half hour of readings and hymns; these were

not short services by any stretch of the imagination!

Thomas Dawkins

Tus University Chaplaincy Music Director

April 2020

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Sources:

Bach, Johann Sebastian. Neue Bach-Ausgabe Serie II, Band 5: Matthäus Passion, BWV 244. Kässel,

Choir of King’s College, Cambridge and the Academy of Ancient Music. Cambridge, UK: King’s College

Recordings KGS0037-D. 2020.

Bach, Johann Sebastian. St. Matthew Passion. Conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Recorded with the

Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists. London, UK: Archiv 427 648-2. 1989.

Dellal, Pamela. Translation of St Matthew Passion on Emmanuel Music’s website. Accessed April 2,

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