(A) Introduction
Bach’s choral works are famous. Let’s run away, screaming like frightened schoolgirls, from the Baroque chamber music and into some religiously blissful singing.
(B) The Choir
A choir is a group of singers who perform together as an ensemble. A lot of it is religious, though not always. A choir is usually associated with a church, while a chorale or chorus is the secular version that performs in concert halls.
The earliest use of choirs by Western folks seems to be the Gregorian Chant, performed by monks as early as the 4th century. Many centuries later, it’s been ripped off and paired with whispery French vocals by lazy techno one-hit-wonders hocking superficial new-agey spirituality.
A lot of choral music was performed a capella, that is, on it’s own and without musical accompaniment. However, in the Baroque period people started using backing musicians to accompany the singers. Bach really mined this potential, as we’ll see in a moment.
(C) St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244 (1727)
“The Passion” is the theological term used to describe Jesus’ suffering (physical, emotional, spiritual) in his final hours on earth. In this work, Bach sets the Gospel of Matthew, Chapters 26-27, to music. Matthew 26-27 details the betrayal of Judas, the last supper, Jesus’ arrest and trial and finally his crucifixion. It doesn’t go into the resurrection; instead, it focuses on the end of Jesus’ life and his suffering.
The Lutherans have a tradition of setting the Passion narrative to music. Bach was a serious Lutheran, and his St. Matthew Passion is the peak of such works. The St. Matthew Passion is written for solo voices, a double choir and a double orchestra. Double choir! Double orchestras! And don’t forget the pipe organs! The recitativos tell the story itself, while the singing provides the commentary on the events in the story. Jesus, Judas, Peter, and Pontius Pilate all get singing parts- solos and some duets.
From what I can tell, it was performed twice in Bach’s lifetime – he was the choir director in the church in Liepzig where it was staged. He got a lot more famous and influential after he died.
The San Francisco Bach Choir has a translation of the piece from the original German, so you can follow the plot.
No. 1 Chor mit Choral: Kommt, ihr Tochter, helft mir klagen!
Wow, nice intro. Bach’s got both choruses working here. It sets up the premise of the piece, and asks Jesus for forgiveness.
No. 6 Arie (Alt): Buss’ und Reu’
This is an aria by a female voice, with a nice flute accompaniment. It’s very quiet and melodic.
No. 11 Rezitativ: Er antwortete und sprach
The guy singing Jesus’ part has a nice, rich, deep voice.
No. 27 Arie mit Chor: So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen!
The female singers take the stage on this piece, and their harmonizing is really good. Then the rest of the chorus joins in near the end, and the result is very dramatic. Nicely done, JS!
No. 29 Choral: O Mensch, bewein dein Sunde gross
The whole chorus is singing in this song, and it’s fantastic – especially after so many solos/duets. You’re used to hearing single voices, and suddenly the whole group opens up and it hits you.
No. 35 Arie (Tenor): Geduld! Geduld!
Nice cello riffing.
No. 39 Arie (Alt): Erbarme dich, mein Gott
A violin accompanies the soloist, and it sounds really good. With more instruments getting in on the action, it sounds like the plot is picking up. Sure enough, she’s signing about how Peter disavowed knowing anything about that Jesus guy for fear of going to jail, and now regrets it bitterly.
No. 42 Arie (Bass): Gebt mir meinen Jesum wieder!
Great interplay between the violin and the bass voice. The violin gets plenty of play in this song.
No. 52 Arie (Alt): Konnen Tranen meiner Wangen Nichts erlangen
Continuing with the gradually increasing role of the orchestra, this longer piece sounds like it has an entire string quartet playing along.
No. 60 Arie (Alt) mit Chor: Sehet, Jesus hat die Hand
There’s some steady woodwind melody that the female singer floats above. The chorus keeps asking, “Who… who…”
No. 61 Rezitativ und Chor: Und von der sechsten Stunde an war eine Finsternis uber das ganze Land
Jesus cries out, “God, why have you forsaken me?!” The jackasses watching him offer to fill a sponge with vinegar and put it on a stick for him to drink from. Way to kick a guy when he’s down. With one last cry, Jesus dies.
No. 63 Rezitativ und Chor: Und siehe da, der Vorhang im Tempel
A cello or bass starts chugging ominously, bringing forth the earthquake that marks the death of Jesus. The temple rumbles, dead saints rise from their graves and fly to heaven. This scares the crap out of the Jesus-watchers, who finally realize they executed the Son of God. Uh oh…
No. 68 Chor: Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder
In this final song, the chorus sounds peaceful and uplifting. It ends with the words: “In highest contentment, there my eyes close in slumber.” The organ gets in on the final note. It’s actually a serene way of ending what is otherwise a brutal story, no matter how nicely it’s sung.
(D) Commentary
I enjoy this a lot more than that pontsy chamber music. And you don’t have to be a devout Christian to enjoy the St. Matthew Passion, though I imagine if you are it’ll resonate more with you. This is seriously church music – I can’t imagine it being played other than in a big gothic cathedral.
Bach’s Passion is as far removed from Mel Gibson’s Passion as I can imagine. This is uplifting and majestic while Sideshow Mel’s is savage, mean-spirited, mealy-mouthed torture-porn.
The organ is a seriously powerful instrument. I mean, look at the size of that thing. It‘s not a small moon, it’s a space station. But in the recitativos, the organ player uses it to play little accents and flavours in the background, leaving the spotlight on the singer. The organ has a lot more range and versatility than its size suggests.
The whole Passion is really restrained. It’s very unlike a lot of the things I’ve listened to so far – there’s no messy crashing drama, no crazy highs or lows. Instead, it’s very measured and deliberate, but the voices do a fantastic job of expressing emotion – which seems to be what Bach did better than anyone else. It’s a very dignified presentation of a harrowing story.
(E) What I’ve Learned
-Bach was a devout Lutheran and he seems to have put his best efforts into his church music
-Choral music involves groups of singers working together on a piece, which sounds more difficult than it seems. Not all voices are the same; while you can always tell what a violin will sound like, my voice is different from the next guy’s and the guy after next. Even if we have the same range – say, we’re all tenors – each one of us is a different-sounding tenor. So even if I can hit all the notes, my voice might be totally wrong for the piece. When you’re putting a choir together, you have to take that into account along with everything else you have to plan out when planning out the performance.
Up next: a great leap forward in time – to Richard Strauss, at the turn of the 20th century!
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