I.S. Bach "Passion according to Matthew"
The most dramatic episodes of biblical history are associated with the last days of Jesus Christ. Passion, or Passion, was the name of a work created specifically for the services of Great Friday in Protestant churches. I.S. Bach wrote several Passions, one of which was "Matthew Passion".
History of creation
It is difficult to find the origins of the inspiration of the composer who lived in the early 18th century. Especially since after the first performance on April 15, 1729, the work was forgotten for almost 100 years. Bach ordered the libretto to the famous Leipzig poet Pikander, whose basic version he reworked himself, combining the literary text with a direct quotation from the Gospel of Matthew. This was already the second experience of creating Passions for Bach, after John’s Passion written in 1724, the scheme of the work was also clear and verified. The characters were specific biblical characters - Jesus, Pilate, Peter, Jude, the Evangelist, and the choirs of the apostles, high priests, the crowd.
During the years of work on Matthew's Passion, Bach served as cantor in the St. Thomas Leipzig Church. The structure of the temple made it possible to arrange choirs, musicians and soloists in such a way that the sound flowed from all sides. Two parts of the "Matthew Passion" were supposed to be performed in the morning and afternoon services. But the Bach music - bright, emotional - was not accepted by the parishioners with understanding. Reviews of the premiere were harsh, she was accused of theatrical nature, inappropriate in the church - as often happens, contemporaries did not notice its true scale and historical significance.
March 30, 1736 the next performance of "Matthew Passion" took place, to which Bach edited them noticeably. Once again, the last during the composer’s lifetime, the work sounded on March 23, 1742. Bach made changes to the score until 1746. After his death, passages from Matthew's Passion were heard several times in the Church of St. Thomas.
The revival of the masterpiece
Today it is difficult to imagine that for many decades after his death, Bach remained virtually unknown to the general public. From oblivion "Matthew Passion" brought novice composer Felix Mendelssohn, known to many thanks to his wedding march. He was only 14 years old when he received from his grandmother a note "Matthew Passion" as a gift. Acquainted with the most ambitious work of Bach, Mendelssohn for several years hatched plans for his execution and brought them to life on March 11, 1829, when in Berlin, albeit in abbreviated form, sounded "Matthew Passion". This was the first performance of the work outside of Leipzig. It instantly gained popularity, followed by two more concerts. Thanks to them, the young composer has gained international fame. In 1849, William Bennett founded the Bach Society of London, Helen Johnston translated the Matthew Passion text into English, and in 1854 they were performed and also published in London.
Music and plot
"Matthew Passion" consists of two major parts, including 78 musical episodes: 15 chorals, 14 arias, recitatives and choruses. Arius, which are, in fact, personal emotional statements, in this work more than in other Bach Passions. The main form of the aria is a three-part, song, with a central episode in contrast in mood. Musical works include recognizable Protestant chanting with canonical texts. Their inclusion was a deliberate reception for the congregation to sing familiar prayers. In addition, in Leipzig it was forbidden to retell or interpret the text of the Gospel, intended for use in the divine services of Great Friday.
Jesus is the only character who has his own musical portrait - stringed strings accompany his recitatives, while the recitatives of other characters are mainly performed with organ accompaniment. Another interesting feature is that, unlike the recitatives, the arias do not belong to the heroes of the oratorio, but are performed by soloists in a narrative, non-personified manner. The meaning of this separation is obvious - the recitatives almost literally convey the direct speech of the characters, while the Aryans express moods and emotions from some significant event.
The plot of the oratorio tells the story of the death of Jesus Christ, beginning with his woeful forebodings of upcoming events and the plot of the high priests, followed by the Last Supper, a scene in the Garden of Gethsemane and a prayer for the cup. Further, repeating the biblical story, after the betrayal of Judas Jesus awaited the arrest, the abdication of Peter, the trial of Pilate, the ascent to Calvary and the crucifixion. The passions end with the removal from the cross and the burial.
At different times, "Matthew Passion" also sounded different. Until the 80s of the 20th century it was decided to perform them accompanied by large symphony orchestras and choirs. After being led by N. Arnoncour for the first time, the Passions were performed with authentic instruments for the first time, Baroque versions in which orchestras included such rarities as viola da gamba, oboe d'amur, and oboe di caccia became popular.
Famous Numbers
The most recognizable aria of “Matthew Passion” is “Erbarme dich, mein gott” (“Take pity, my god”), written for viola. It reflects the bitter repentance of the apostle Peter after the denial of Christ.
"Erbarme dich, mein gott" (listen)
Interesting Facts
- In the Matthew Passion score, there are women's parts for soprano and alto, but in the days of Bach only men and boys sang in the church. It was the boys who performed these parts. Moreover, they were pupils of the composer himself, who taught them in the singing school at the church of St. Thomas.
- In the fate of F. Mendelssohn, to whom we owe a revival of interest in Bach’s music, there are many intersections with a senior colleague. One of them was Leipzig - Mendelssohn founded a conservatory in this city (the first in Germany), headed the Leipzig music school, lived there and died. Mendelssohn’s love for Bach was interpreted as a drawback - R. Wagner, in particular, criticized the composer for imitating the great German.
- "Matthew Passion" also exists in the ballet genre - Bach's music was used as the basis for John Neumeier’s production for the Hamburg ballet. The performance, released in 1980, goes on stage to this day.
- Leonard Bernstein admitted that his personal passion for Bach began precisely with "Matthew Passion".
- In total, Bach created five Passions, but, besides "Matthew Passion," only Passion according to John remained in its full form.
"Matthew Passion" in the movies
Bright, emotional music "Matthew Passion" was accompanied by films:
- "Gaspard is going to the wedding" E. Cordier, 2017
- "Demons" F. Lesage, 2015
- "In the loop" A. Iannucci, 2009
- "Domino" by T. Scott, 2005
- "You can count on me" K. Lorregana, 2000
- "Casino" M. Scorsese, 1995
- "Mirror" A. T5rkovsky, 1974
"Matthew Passion" on the day of the premiere, and today is perceived as a theatrical, emotional and very humane work. For a quarter of a millennium, the attitude to this fact radically changed, thanks to which the work of Bach became very popular on the stage and became immortal.
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