St Matthew Passion - Detailed notes on text, translation and music

The work opens with a monumental sound picture which employs three choirs and two orchestras. Picander’s words invoke one of the principal themes of the Christian faith in general, and the Reformed faith in particular – that of the innocent man who has taken upon himself the responsibility for the sins of the world and, in doing so, pays the ultimate price to redeem mankind. The three stylistic elements on which the remainder of the work lie are all present here, brilliantly superimposed on one another. The lyrical nature of the music for the first choir, representing the disciples addressing the Daughters of Zion, recalls the funeral rituals of the keening women common in Middle Eastern countries. This contrasts with the dramatic, musical personification of the Daughters of Zion sung by the second choir. Both first and second choir contrast with the simple chorale melody, a metrical paraphrase of the Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God, intended for reflection and representative of the Christian community in general, sung by the third choir. Christ is thus portrayed as an innocent lamb, an image which points towards the apocalypse, where Christ as a lamb rules the New Jerusalem. The antiphonal writing between the first and second choir knits the lyrical and dramatic together beautifully, whilst the chorale melody sails effortlessly over the top. The powerful orchestral opening, with its seemingly endless chains of suspensions and dissonances, a constant tonal tension between major and minor, and its insistent ostinato bass line puts us in mind of a funeral procession, or perhaps a march to the cross. Also present here is the ancient theatrical device of teichoscopy, where events are perceived to be happening “offstage”, or out of sight, by the characters on stage, who relay them to the audience though discussion and narration. In this opening movement we experience, through Bach’s careful and measured exposition of both text and music, the entire meaning of the Passion. We are shown a musical and poetical snapshot of what to expect. From herein on, though, we are in the present tense, as performers and audience alike are immersed into the story and become both players and observers – passive and active members of the cast of the Christian community ready to play out the events of that first Holy Week.

1	Choirs 1 & 2	Kommt ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen, sehet, Wen? den Bräutigam, seht ihn, Wie? als wie ein Lamm, sehet, Was? seht die Geduld, seht, Wohin? auf unsre Schuld, sehet ihn aus Lieb und Huld Holz zum Kreuze selber tragen!	Come you daughters, help me to lament, see, whom? The bridegroom, see him, how? As a lamb, see, what? See patience, see, where? Towards our guilt, see him with love and graciousness carrying wood to the cross.
	Ripieno Choir	O Lamm Göttes unschuldig am Stamm des Kreuzes geschlachtet, allzeit erfunden geduldig, wiewohl du warest verachtet. All Sünd hast du getragen, sonst müßten wir verzagen. Erbarm dich unser, O Jesu!	O innocent lamb of God, slaughtered on the stem of the cross, at all time he is found to be patient, just as you were despised. You have borne our sin, or else we must despair. Have mercy on us, O Jesu!
2	Evangelist Secco recitative	Da Jesus diese Rede vollendet hatte, sprach er zu seinen Jüngern:	And it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples:
	Jesus Stromentato recitative	“Ihr wisset daß nach zweien Tagen Ostern wird, und des Menschen Sohn wird überantwortet werden, daß er gekreuziget werde.”	“Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified.”

The first chorale, the opening stanza of Herzliebster Jesu, formulates a series of questions on the concept of guilt, and reflects on Christ’s own prediction which has just occurred. The melody is by Johann Crüger and the words, written in 1630, are by Johann Heerman, and are based on Isaiah 53:4. Note the unsettled and chromatic cadence with which Bach illustrates the word Missetaten (misdeeds); the chorus of faithful believers is experiencing bewilderment and unease.

Chorus

Chorale

Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen,
daß man ein solch scharf Urteil hat gesprochen?
Was ist die Schuld, in was für Missetaten?
bist du geraten?

Dearest Jesus, what crime have you committed that such a drastic judgement has been pronounced? What is your guilt and what misdeeds have you committed?

Evangelist

Da versammleten sich die Hohenpriester und Schriftgelehrten und die Ältesten im Volk in den Palast des Hohenpriesters, der da hieß Kaiphas, und hielten Rat, wie sie Jesum mit Listen griffen und töteten. Sie sprachen aber:

Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and they consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him. But, they said:

The chorus, now representing the assembled chief priests and scribes, becomes agitated in an antiphonal exchange supported by animated orchestral writing. The Passover was a potentially explosive time in Jerusalem.

4b	Chorus 1 & 2 Stromentato recitative	“Ja nicht auf das Fest, auf daß nicht ein Aufruhr werde im Volk.”	“Not on the feast day lest there be an uproar among the people.”
4c	Evangelist	Da nun Jesus war zu Bethanien, im Hause Simonis des Aussätzigen, trat zu ihm ein Weib, die hatte ein Glas mit köstlichem Wasser und goß es auf sein Haupt, da er zu Tische saß. Da das seine Jünger sahen, wurden sie unwillig und sprachen:	Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it they had indignation, saying:

Page last updated April 18, 2012