With an arsenal of musical compositions and a legion of talented offspring, Johann Sebastian Bach stands tall among the foundational figures of Western art music. The richness, diversity, and humanity of Bach’s works continue to place him in a class unto himself. With few exceptions, he composed in every major musical genre common to his era. In the category of “Passions,” an established genre of sacred vocal work analogous to the theatrical Passion play, Bach was peerless. These musical settings of the final days of the life of Jesus were as close as the composer came in his lifetime to writing opera. The obituary written by the composer’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Friedrich Agricola credits the elder Bach with five Passion settings. Music for only two, however, has survived complete: the St. John Passion (Johannes-Passion), BWV 245, first performed in 1724, and the St. Matthew Passion (Matthäus-Passion), BWV 244, first performed in 1727. Bach was barely a year into his tenure as Cantor et Director Musices in the city of Leipzig when he wrote the St. John Passion, the first grand-scale work he composed in the position. Scholars believe that certain movements were originally part of an earlier Passion setting, now lost, that Bach composed during his time in Weimar.
The performance of Bach’s Passions as part of a liturgy demanded a unique arrangement and structure. In Leipzig, Passions were performed on Good Friday during Vespers (the evening service) and were split into two parts separated by a sermon. The bulk of the narrative was conveyed by text quoted from the respective Gospel. In Bach’s Passions, this text is assigned to the character of the Evangelist as recitatives, or musicalized speech. Additional soloists take on specific characters, Jesus being the most important. Between these passages, it was customary for composers to insert meditative movements for vocal soloists and the chorus that comment and reflect on the Biblical action. Bach also interspersed chorales that would have been familiar to the general congregation. These interpolations aimed to engage the community in the drama of the Passion. Their format thus allowed for a communal sense of grieving and self-assessment, questioning our culpability and impact as individuals and a society. Like the oratorios of Handel, Bach’s Passions are now staged as dramatic works, one of the most recent and celebrated examples being Peter Sellars’s productions with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Like his other epic choral works, Bach’s St. John Passion encapsulates and elevates many traditions in Baroque music. Taut and sorrowful in its structure and tone, the piece occupied the composer’s thoughts until he died in 1750. The first performance occurred during the Good Friday service at Leipzig’s Nikolaikirche (a last-minute change of venue) on April 7, 1724. Bach frequently revived and revised the work for additional performances, leaving various versions and additional movements for future performers to navigate. The original orchestration encompassed an expanded string section, continuo, and woodwinds with flauti traversi, oboes, oboes da caccia, and oboes d’amore. For specific timbral effects, Bach included instruments like the viola d’amore, viola da gamba, and the lute. The vocal forces require a full choir and soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists.
The St. John Passion is cast in five large “scenes,” two in Part One and three in Part Two. Part One depicts Jesus’s betrayal by Judas and the arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, followed by his presentation to the high priest Caiaphas and the disciple Peter’s denial of Jesus. Part Two begins with the trials and interrogation of Jesus at the hands of Pontius Pilate, Pilate’s capitulation to the mob, the torture of Jesus and his progression to Golgotha, and finally, his crucifixion and burial. The librettist for the St. John Passion remains anonymous. The final text draws mainly on Chapters 18 and 19 in the Gospel of John and various contemporary poets for the individual arias and choruses. The chorale movements were culled from a range of sources, including the works of Martin Luther.
Though shorter than the St. Matthew Passion, the St. John Passion boasts some of Bach’s most incredible music. The opening of Part One is a masterstroke, a turbulent and convulsive chorus in G minor appealing to the Lord. The voice of the Evangelist then begins the story proper. Interspersed within and between these narrative sections are interstitial movements for the soloists and chorus that expand and reflect on the dramatic action. The first aria, the D-minor “Von den Stricken meiner Sünden” (“To untie me”) for contralto, showcases Bach’s adroit writing for the oboes as a complement to the text’s mention of liberation and healing. More strident is the tenor’s aria with strings and continuo at the end of Part One, “Ach, mein Sinn” (“Alas, my conscience”), lamenting one’s iniquities with despair. The choral writing throughout the St. John Passion is equally varied, from sturdy homophony in the chorale movements to the more elaborate polyphony that characterizes the other choral interjections. Such musical interplay reflects on the tremendous spiritual turmoil at the heart of the St. John Passion, leaving a contemplative mood about faith, sacrifice, and redemption in its wake.
—Ryan M. Prendergast
Orchestra of St. Luke’s acknowledges that while J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion is a work of genius, it can be interpreted as depicting historic manifestations of antisemitism. For centuries, scholars and listeners have grappled with its complex legacy, sparking ongoing discussions about how it is presented and received. We approach this performance with thoughtfulness and sensitivity, recognizing both the work’s artistic significance and the responsibility to engage with its history. For those seeking deeper context, we encourage further learning about the piece.