St John Passion

The St John Passion was intended for the vesper service on Good Friday of 1724, shortly after Bach's 39th birthday. It was originally planned to be held at St. Thomas in Leipzig, but due to a last-minute change by the music council, it was to be first performed at St. Nicholas. Bach quickly agreed to the move, but pointed out that the booklet was already printed, that there was no room available and that the harpsichord needed some repair, all of which, however, could be attended to at little cost; but he requested that a little additional room be provided in the choir loft of St. Nicholas Church, where he planned to place the musicians needed to perform the music. He also asked that the harpsichord be repaired. The council agreed and sent a flyer announcing the new location to all the people around Leipzig. The council made the arrangements requested by Bach regarding the harpsichord and space needed for the choir. == Musical architecture and sources ==

The St John Passion is written for a four-part choir with soloists, as well as an instrumental ensemble of strings and basso continuo with pairs of flauti traversi and oboes, the latter both doubling on oboe da caccia. For special colors Bach also used lute, viola d'amore and viola da gamba, instruments that were already considered old-fashioned at the time. In present-day performances the part of Jesus is often given to one bass soloist, Pilate and the bass arias to another. The part of the Evangelist and the tenor arias are often given to two different singers. The smaller parts (Peter, Maid, Servant) are usually performed by choir members. Bach followed chapters 18 and 19 of the Gospel of John in the Luther Bible, and the tenor Evangelist follows exactly the words of that bible. The compiler of the additional poetry is unknown. Models are the Brockes Passion and a Johannes-Passion by Christian Heinrich Postel. The first scene is in the Kidron Valley, and the second in the palace of the high priest Kaiphas. Part Two shows three scenes, one with Pontius Pilate, one at Golgatha, and the third finally at the burial site. The dramatic argument between Pilate, Jesus, and the crowd is not interrupted by reflective elements but a single central chorale. The numbering of the movements is different in different editions. The following table uses the numbers of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe (NBA). Bach followed the Gospel of John but added two lines from the Gospel of Matthew, the account of Peter's weeping and the rending of the veil in the temple (in Version I, this second line was replaced by the line from the Gospel of Mark). He chose the chorales: • "Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen" by Johann Heermann (1630), verse 6 for movement 3, verses 7 & 8 for 17, • "Vater unser im Himmelreich" by Martin Luther (1539), verse 4 for movement 5, • "" by Paul Gerhardt (1647), verses 3 & 4 for movement 11, • "Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod" by Paul Stockmann (1633), verse 10 for movement 14, verse 20 for 28, the last verse for 32, • "Christus, der uns selig macht" by Michael Weiße (1531), verse 1 for movement 15, verse 8 for 37, • "Valet will ich dir geben" by Valerius Herberger (1613), verse 3 for movement 26, • "Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr" by Martin Schalling (1571), verse 3 for movement 40. For the words of the aria "Ach, mein Sinn" (#13), Bach used an adaptation of a 1675 poem by Christian Weise, "Der weinende Petrus". For the central chorale (#22) "Durch dein Gefängnis, Gottes Sohn, muß uns die Freiheit kommen" ("Through Your prison, Son of God, must freedom come to us) Bach adapted the words of an aria from the Johannes-Passion of Christian Heinrich Postel (1700) and used the melody of "Mach's mit mir, Gott, nach deiner Güt" by Johann Hermann Schein. The architecture of Part Two shows symmetry around this movement, the music of the preceding chorus #21f "Wir haben ein Gesetz" corresponds to #23b "Lässest du diesen los", the demand #21d "Kreuzige ihn!" is repeated in an intensified way in #23d "Weg, weg mit dem, kreuzige ihn!", #21b "Sei gegrüßet, lieber Judenkönig" reappears as #25b "Schreibe nicht: der Juden König". == Versions ==

Researchers have discovered that Bach revised his St John Passion several times before producing a final version in the 1740s. Alternate numbers that Bach introduced in 1725 but later removed can be found in the appendix to scores of the work, such as that of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe (and heard in the recording by Emmanuel Music directed by Craig Smith, cited below). The St John Passion was not Bach's first passion. While he was working as Konzertmeister (1714–1717) in Weimar, Bach possibly wrote a Passion, known as the Weimarer Passion, but it is now lost. In the 1724 version, the Recitative Movement No. 33 reads "Und die Vorhang im Tempel zerriß in zwei Stück; von oben an bis unten aus." (Mark 15, 33) and was in 3 measures. From 1725 on, this was replaced by the more familiar 7-measure quote from Matthew 27: 51–52 (except in the 3rd version, in which this was taken out altogether). In 1725, Bach replaced the opening and closing choruses and added three arias (BWV 245a-c) while cutting one (Ach, mein Sinn) from the original version. In the 1730s, Bach revised the St John Passion again, restoring the original opening chorus, removing the final Chorale (thus ending the work with the choral Movement No. 39), and removing the three new arias. He also inserted an aria to replace the still-missing Ach, mein Sinn. Neither the aria nor the sinfonia has been preserved. Overall, Bach chose to keep the biblical text, and inserted Lutheran hymn verses so that he could return the work to its liturgical substance. In 1749, he reverted more or less to the original of 1724, making only slight changes to the orchestration, most notably replacing the by-then almost obsolete viola d'amore with muted violins. In the summer of 1815, Bach's Passions began to be studied once again. Parts of the St John Passion were being rehearsed and the St Matthew Passion was soon to follow. Fred Wolle, with his Choral Union of 1888 at the Moravian town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was the first to perform the St John Passion in the Americas. This spurred a revival of Bach's choral music in the New World. == Congregational use ==

While writing the St John Passion, Bach intended to retain the congregational spirit of the worship service. More recently, the tradition of including the St John Passion in a full-scale Good Friday service was revived in Kokkola, Finland in 2023 (in Swedish) and 2025 (in Finnish). == Highlights ==

{{Image frame \relative c' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"viola" \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \clef treble \key b \minor \time 4/4 \tempo "Molto adagio" 4 = 28 r8. fis16 \appoggiatura e8 d( cis16 d32 b) \appoggiatura b8 ais r16 g' \appoggiatura g8 fis(e16 g32 fis) | \appoggiatura e8 d16.(cis32) b16.(cis32) d16.(e32) fis16.(g32) a16.(fis32) dis16.(e32) e16(fis32 g fis16. e32) | e8 r16 g \appoggiatura fis8 e(d16 e32 cis) a'8 r16 g \appoggiatura fis8 e(d16 e32 cis)| \appoggiatura b'8 ais r16 b \appoggiatura a8 g16.(fis32) e16.(d32) cis16.(b64 ais b16. cis32) cis8. \trill b16| b4 } • Opening chorus: "Herr, unser Herrscher ..." ("Lord, our master, ..."). There is an orchestral intonation of 36 bars before the explosive entrance of the chorus. Each of these bars is a single stress of lower tones, weakening till the end of the bar. These bass beats are accompanied by the remaining instruments of higher tones, by legato singing the prospective theme. The last six bars of the orchestral intro produce a robust crescendo, ending with the loud shouts of "Herr, Herr, Herr!" in the first bars of the chorus. Soon, after the first part of the theme, comes the triple shout again, but this time, at the end of the bars, as a contra answer for the corresponding orchestral deep stresses at the beginning of the bars. Finally, the entire A section is repeated."Herr, unser Herrscher" and "O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß" are very different in character. The latter is full of torment in its text, but a serenely majestic piece of music. "Herr, unser Herrscher" sounds as if it has chains of dissonance between the two oboes and the turmoil of the roiling sixteenth notes in the strings. The music grows full of anguish especially when the strings invade the bass, and it therefore characterizes the St John Passion. The beginning of the theme is a descending sequence, but in overall the theme is full of emotion as well. Singing this chorale standalone, however, does not sound as a closing chorale, except if it is sung at the end of a real ceremony. == Criticism ==

The text Bach set to music has been criticized as anti-Semitic. This accusation is closely connected to a wider controversy regarding the tone of the New Testament's Gospel of John with regards to Judaism. Lukas Foss, who came to the United States in 1937 as a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, changed the text from "Juden" to "Leute" (people) when he conducted performances of the work. This has been the trend of numerous mainline Christian denominations since the late 20th century as well, for instance, the Episcopal Church, when they read the gospel during Good Friday services. Michael Marissen's ''Lutheranism, Anti-Judaism, and Bach's 'St John's Passion' '' examines the controversy in detail. He concludes that Bach's St John Passion and St Matthew Passion contain fewer statements derogatory toward Jews than many other contemporary musical settings of the Passion. He also noted that Bach used words for the commenting arias and hymns that tended to shift the blame for the death of Jesus from "the Jews" to the congregation of Christians. == See also ==