Richard D. P. Jones
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199696284
- eISBN:
- 9780191761102
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199696284.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter analyzes the following works: Secular cantatas (BWV 134a, 173 a, 249 a, 36c, 205, 207, 198, 204, 210a); sacred cantatas; Magnificat and Passion; sacred cantatas: chorale cantatas; St ...
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This chapter analyzes the following works: Secular cantatas (BWV 134a, 173 a, 249 a, 36c, 205, 207, 198, 204, 210a); sacred cantatas; Magnificat and Passion; sacred cantatas: chorale cantatas; St John Passion, Version II; non-chorale cantatas; St Matthew Passion; cantatas of 1727–1728 and the Picander cycle (1728–1729); and the motets (BWV 225–9).Less
This chapter analyzes the following works: Secular cantatas (BWV 134a, 173 a, 249 a, 36c, 205, 207, 198, 204, 210a); sacred cantatas; Magnificat and Passion; sacred cantatas: chorale cantatas; St John Passion, Version II; non-chorale cantatas; St Matthew Passion; cantatas of 1727–1728 and the Picander cycle (1728–1729); and the motets (BWV 225–9).
Daniel R. Melamed
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195169331
- eISBN:
- 9780199865376
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195169331.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
Johann Sebastian Bach's two surviving passions—St. John and St. Matthew—are an essential part of the modern repertory, performed regularly both by professional ensembles and amateur groups. These ...
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Johann Sebastian Bach's two surviving passions—St. John and St. Matthew—are an essential part of the modern repertory, performed regularly both by professional ensembles and amateur groups. These large, complex pieces are well-loved; but because of our distance from the original context in which they were performed, questions and problems emerge. Bach wrote the passions for a particular liturgical event at a specific time and place; we hear them hundreds of years later, often a world away and usually in concert performances. They were performed with vocal and instrumental forces deployed according to early 18th century conceptions; we usually hear them now as the pinnacle of the choral/orchestral repertory, adapted to modern forces and conventions. In Bach's time, passion settings were revised, altered, and tampered with both by their composers and by other musicians who used them. Today, we tend to regard them as having fixed texts, to be treated with respect. Their music was sometimes recycled from other compositions, or reused itself for other purposes. We have trouble imagining the familiar material of Bach's passion settings in any other guise. We can learn about these issues by exploring the sources that transmit Bach's passion settings today, performance practice (including the question of the size of Bach's ensemble), delving into the passions as dramatic music, examining the problem of multiple versions of a work and the reconstruction of lost pieces, exploring the other passions in Bach's performing repertory, and sifting through the puzzle of authorship.Less
Johann Sebastian Bach's two surviving passions—St. John and St. Matthew—are an essential part of the modern repertory, performed regularly both by professional ensembles and amateur groups. These large, complex pieces are well-loved; but because of our distance from the original context in which they were performed, questions and problems emerge. Bach wrote the passions for a particular liturgical event at a specific time and place; we hear them hundreds of years later, often a world away and usually in concert performances. They were performed with vocal and instrumental forces deployed according to early 18th century conceptions; we usually hear them now as the pinnacle of the choral/orchestral repertory, adapted to modern forces and conventions. In Bach's time, passion settings were revised, altered, and tampered with both by their composers and by other musicians who used them. Today, we tend to regard them as having fixed texts, to be treated with respect. Their music was sometimes recycled from other compositions, or reused itself for other purposes. We have trouble imagining the familiar material of Bach's passion settings in any other guise. We can learn about these issues by exploring the sources that transmit Bach's passion settings today, performance practice (including the question of the size of Bach's ensemble), delving into the passions as dramatic music, examining the problem of multiple versions of a work and the reconstruction of lost pieces, exploring the other passions in Bach's performing repertory, and sifting through the puzzle of authorship.
Markus Rathey
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300217209
- eISBN:
- 9780300219517
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300217209.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This chapter examines the St John Passion and its account of human suffering in the Gospel according to John in relation to a view of the death of Christ as a demonstration of his divine glory. It ...
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This chapter examines the St John Passion and its account of human suffering in the Gospel according to John in relation to a view of the death of Christ as a demonstration of his divine glory. It first provides some historical background information on the St John Passion before analysing it in greater detail. It then considers the images of Abraham Wiegner’s book Nöthige Freytags-Arbeit (Necessary Occupation on a Friday) as a visual commentary on the events of the Passion of Christ and how to understand meditative texts in Bach’s passions. It also describes the St John Passion as a piece for the liturgy and goes on to explore the Theology of Glory in the Gospel according to John. Finally, it looks at the close connection between texts and contexts in the St John Passion and explains how the chorale setting combines the Lutheran understanding of death as sleep with the highly individual perspective of the Passion of Christ in the St John Passion.Less
This chapter examines the St John Passion and its account of human suffering in the Gospel according to John in relation to a view of the death of Christ as a demonstration of his divine glory. It first provides some historical background information on the St John Passion before analysing it in greater detail. It then considers the images of Abraham Wiegner’s book Nöthige Freytags-Arbeit (Necessary Occupation on a Friday) as a visual commentary on the events of the Passion of Christ and how to understand meditative texts in Bach’s passions. It also describes the St John Passion as a piece for the liturgy and goes on to explore the Theology of Glory in the Gospel according to John. Finally, it looks at the close connection between texts and contexts in the St John Passion and explains how the chorale setting combines the Lutheran understanding of death as sleep with the highly individual perspective of the Passion of Christ in the St John Passion.
Daniel R. Melamed
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195169331
- eISBN:
- 9780199865376
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195169331.003.04
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
What do we do when a composition survives in several versions? J. S. Bach's St. John Passion presents a test case for our convictions about pieces and their multiple versions. Most people's sense ...
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What do we do when a composition survives in several versions? J. S. Bach's St. John Passion presents a test case for our convictions about pieces and their multiple versions. Most people's sense that there is indeed a work identifiable as “the St. John Passion ” is confirmed by the assignment of a single Bach catalogue number (BWV 245) to it. But the situation is more complicated: there are multiple St. John Passions, some of which are recoverable and some of which are not. One may not really qualify as a version, depending on how one defines the concept.Less
What do we do when a composition survives in several versions? J. S. Bach's St. John Passion presents a test case for our convictions about pieces and their multiple versions. Most people's sense that there is indeed a work identifiable as “the St. John Passion ” is confirmed by the assignment of a single Bach catalogue number (BWV 245) to it. But the situation is more complicated: there are multiple St. John Passions, some of which are recoverable and some of which are not. One may not really qualify as a version, depending on how one defines the concept.
Eric Chafe
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199773343
- eISBN:
- 9780199949502
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199773343.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Theory, Analysis, Composition
This chapter introduces the conceptual basis for the book—that Bach responds to the theological character of the gospel of John in highly interesting ways—then turns to the “problems” associated with ...
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This chapter introduces the conceptual basis for the book—that Bach responds to the theological character of the gospel of John in highly interesting ways—then turns to the “problems” associated with the versions of the St. John Passion, the breaking off of the chorale cantatas and the composition of the cantatas that followed its second performance in 1725.Less
This chapter introduces the conceptual basis for the book—that Bach responds to the theological character of the gospel of John in highly interesting ways—then turns to the “problems” associated with the versions of the St. John Passion, the breaking off of the chorale cantatas and the composition of the cantatas that followed its second performance in 1725.
Markus Rathey
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300217209
- eISBN:
- 9780300219517
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300217209.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
Every year, Johann Sebastian Bach’s major vocal works are performed to mark liturgical milestones in the Christian calendar. Written by a renowned Bach scholar, this book provides an introduction to ...
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Every year, Johann Sebastian Bach’s major vocal works are performed to mark liturgical milestones in the Christian calendar. Written by a renowned Bach scholar, this book provides an introduction to the music and cultural contexts of the composer’s most beloved masterpieces, including the Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio, and St John Passion. In addition to providing historical information, each chapter highlights significant aspects—such as the theology of love—of a particular piece. This book is the first to treat the vocal works as a whole, showing how the compositions were embedded in their original performative context within the liturgy as well as discussing Bach’s musical style, from the detailed level of individual movements to the overarching aspects of each work. The book will appeal to casual concertgoers and scholars alike.Less
Every year, Johann Sebastian Bach’s major vocal works are performed to mark liturgical milestones in the Christian calendar. Written by a renowned Bach scholar, this book provides an introduction to the music and cultural contexts of the composer’s most beloved masterpieces, including the Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio, and St John Passion. In addition to providing historical information, each chapter highlights significant aspects—such as the theology of love—of a particular piece. This book is the first to treat the vocal works as a whole, showing how the compositions were embedded in their original performative context within the liturgy as well as discussing Bach’s musical style, from the detailed level of individual movements to the overarching aspects of each work. The book will appeal to casual concertgoers and scholars alike.
