ST. MATTHEW PASSION
Sunday, March 30, 7:30 PM
First United Methodist Church, Evanston
Tickets: $60, $48, $38 (SOLD OUT)
Call us at 312.551.1414 about partially obstructed view seats.
A free pre-concert lecture by Carl Grapentine begins at 6:30 PM in the church chapel.
Monday, March 31, 7:30 PM
Harris Theater, Chicago
(Millennium Park)
Ticket Prices: $75, $60, $50, $40, $30
A free pre-concert lecture by Carl Grapentine begins at 6:00 PM in the Chicago Cultural Center (Randolph Cafe--north entrance).
This concert is sponsored in part by:
PROGRAM
Johann Sebastian Bach
Passion According to St. Matthew
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Chorale: "Mir hat die Welt trüglich gericht" |
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Chorus: "Lass ihn kreuzigen!" |
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Aria: "Erbarme dich" |
Music of the Baroque Chorus and Orchestra
Catherine Wyn-Rogers, mezzo-soprano
Paul Agnew, tenor (Evangelist)
Christopheren Nomura, bass-baritone (Jesus)
A musical masterpiece of profound spirituality and one of the supreme creative achievements of all time, Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion speaks as urgently of conscience, compassion and hope today as it did when it was written nearly 300 years ago. This is music drawn on a vast emotional canvas, scored for double orchestra, performed with the power and passion Music of the Baroque always brings to Bach's great choral works. Only subscribers are guaranteed seats for what is certain to be one of the most important events of the classical music year.
Program Notes
When Felix Mendelssohn undertook his famous revival of the Passion According to St. Matthew in 1829, he declared it to be “the greatest of Christian works.” While we accord the St. Matthew Passion a similar sort of monument status today, Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries likely had something different in mind. As scholar Robert Marshall writes of Bach’s sacred music more generally, “such compositions were not intended primarily for the ‘delectation’ of a concert public, but rather for the ‘edification’ of a church congregation.” Musical depictions of the Crucifixion, from plainsong Passions in the medieval era to motet Passions in the early modern period, had long been a part of devotional life. And although Martin Luther had decreed that “The Passion of Christ should not be acted out in words and pretense, but in real life,” sung Passion performances were used in the Lutheran liturgy from the start. In the mid-sixteenth century, Luther’s friend and musical advisor Johann Walter created a German dramatic (or responsorial) Passion consisting of Gospel text sung monophonically by the Evangelist and other “characters” and simple choral statements by the people and disciples. Although his wasn’t the only Lutheran Passion, Walter’s work had an extremely strong influence in the ensuing centuries.
Over the course of the seventeenth century—particularly in Germany—the Passion genre began assuming characteristics of opera, perhaps due in part to the story’s inherent drama. Soloists were assigned “parts,” such as Jesus or Pontius Pilate, and communicated their stories through recitatives and arias. Further, the traditional Gospel narrative was intermingled with Lutheran chorale texts and contemporary poetry in order to make the story more meaningful for the predominantly Lutheran audience. Although still a religious work, the resulting “oratorio Passion” was virtually a form of entertainment in eighteenth-century Germany, and in Hamburg the popularity of the Passion was nearly equal to that of opera. While many Passions of the time, such as those by Telemann, were written for these secular settings, Bach’s Passions were strictly intended for performance at church. As the cantor of St. Thomas in Leipzig, Bach had to produce music for every Sunday and feast day of the Lutheran liturgical calendar, as well as for other occasions upon request, and it was in fulfillment of this contractual obligation that the St. Matthew Passion was written. Rather than being performed as a self-standing work, it was integrated into the service itself: Parts I and II were separated by a sermon, while a hymn and motet served as bookends.
Although Bach’s conservative employers disapproved of the increasingly fine line between secular and sacred composition, his beloved predecessor Johann Kuhnau had paved the way for oratorio Passions at St. Thomas with his 1717 Passion According to St. Mark, which was conceived as a supplement to Walter’s earlier work. Bach and his librettist Christian Friedrich Henrici—whose nom de plume was Picander—took a very different approach in the St. Matthew Passion, completely supplanting the sixteenth-century model with a new alternation of recitatives, arias, choruses, and traditional chorales, complete with new texts and adapted Biblical verses. (Picander and Bach had begun collaborating in 1725, and it is highly probable that the two worked together on the Passion’s libretto.) Rather than a full libretto with the verses from Matthew and the familiar chorales, contemporary listeners would have been given only Picander’s poem to look at during the service.
Although Bach was admonished about operatic writing, the St. Matthew Passion’s sheer theatricality is undeniable. It was obvious to its earliest listeners as well: according to one contemporary report, a parishioner said after hearing it for the first time, “God save us, it’s just as if one were at the opera or the theater!” Despite these criticisms, the St. Matthew Passion’s structure is as indebted to Lutheran theology as it is to secular theater. Lutheran devotional writings such as Passion sermons were written according to a strict plan: a Biblical scene is presented, its particular lesson is underscored, and a personal, affective response follows. The goal was more than didactic: the combination of lesson and meditation was ultimately intended to create a personal worship experience. The same progression from scripture to emotional response appears throughout the St. Matthew Passion. In Part I, the Evangelist tells the story of Jesus in Bethany (Matthew 26: 6-13; No. 4c), in which Jesus is anointed and then predicts his immanent death. In the alto recitative that follows, “Du lieber Heiland du” (Dear Saviour Thou; No. 5), the singer highlights the deeper meaning of the anointment and expresses the desire to anoint Jesus’s head with tears of grief. The culminating aria, “Buß und Reu” (Repentance and remorse; No. 6), primarily communicates grief and regret, concluding with a direct appeal to the Savior. The description of the Last Supper is similarly structured: the scripture is communicated via recitative (Matthew 26: 23-29; No. 11) and subsequently summarized in the arioso “Wiewohl mein Herz” (Though my heart; No. 12). The aria “Ich will dir mein Herze schenken” (I will give my heart to Thee; No. 13) interprets the act of communication in more mystical terms—the soul’s desire to unite with Jesus.
Although the libretto may have theological precedents, the St. Matthew Passion has a musical and rhetorical impact all its own. Bach employs an almost bewildering variety of musical styles throughout the work—far more than would have been used in a typical opera—and the result is at once heartrending and passionate. Bach sets all of the Evangelist’s Gospel texts in secco recitative (recitative accompanied by continuo only), presumably to maximize their intelligibility (in addition to moving quickly through the lengthy verses, as in an opera). Picander’s newly composed poetry is used in arioso (song-like recitative) and arias, underscoring its emotional impact. While these styles fulfill similar functions in opera—recitative moves the plot along, while aria and arioso express emotion—their careful use in the St. Matthew Passion in combination with the dramatic story and reflective, thought-provoking poetry is particularly poignant. When Peter denies Christ, for example, the recitative (Nos. 38a-c) culminates in the Evangelist’s description of Peter’s remorse—“Und ging heraus, und weinete bitterlich” (And he went out, and wept bitterly)—eloquently depicted with a melisma on the word “weinete.” The gentle lyricism of the gesture is immediately picked up in the violin obbligato that begins the following aria, “Erbarme dich,” in which Peter’s bitter tears are illustrated in gentle dissonances and softly falling figuration.
Another vital component of the St. Matthew Passion is the chorus. Because Good Friday was such an important day in the church calendar, Bach may have had access to a larger group of musicians (although the precise number of singers has been a controversial topic; scholars have debated theories ranging from huge choral forces to extremely limited choral forces). Bach consequently divided the ensemble into two separate choruses, an arrangement that both functions as a dramatic device (for example, to represent the turba—passages for crowds as when Christ appears before Pilate) and an aural effect. The chorales of the St. Matthew Passion serve almost as unifying markers, appearing in several guises: straightforward four-part settings, as in No. 54, “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden” (O head covered in blood and with wounds); interpolated in solo sections, as in No. 19, “O Schmerz!” (Oh pain and grief!); and as a cantus firmus in polyphonic sections, as in the opening chorus “Kommt, ihr Tochter, helft mir Klagen” (Come, ye daughters, help me mourn). Instrumental effects also heighten the story’s retelling. Although the St. Matthew Passion relies on a relatively subdued palette of instrumental color—perhaps because of the occasion’s solemnity—Bach uses these resources to great effect. In “O Schmerz,” for example, the hushed pulsing of flutes and English horns evoke Jesus’s throbbing heart and angst-ridden countenance perfectly. Also noteworthy are Jesus’s recitatives, which with the exception of his final words are accompanied by sustained strings and continuo in an effect often referred to as his “halo.”
Program Notes © Jennifer More Glagov 2008