See him.” “How?” “Like a Lamb.” Then a third choir enters-a boy’s choir. Then there is a dialogue between the Daughters of Zion and the Community of the Faithful, as the first group points to Jesus, and the second asks questions: “Behold!” “Whom?” “The Bridegroom. There follows a chorus that sings with a kind of sad vigor in four-part counterpoint, as each part goes its own way in imitation of a confused crowd. We hear an extended orchestral opening, in which the world as a whole seems to pulse in passionate recognition of Jesus as Bridegroom and sacrificial Lamb. “Come, you Daughters,” they sing, “Help me lament!” The Daughters of Zion exhort us to join them in their sorrow and to become one of them. The first chorus represents the Daughters of Zion, who in turn represent Jerusalem the second represents the Community of the Faithful, that is, the contemporary congregation. Bach uses a double chorus, which makes the piece sound epic and stereophonic. The sense of gigantic undulation is conveyed by the opening chorus, which sweeps us up in a stately lament in 12/8 time. The opening Chorus of the Passion comes at us in waves, like the undulation of some gigantic animal, as we move from one kind of music to another. The fusion of voices and instruments invites us to enter the Passion as told by Matthew in order to experience it in a new way, a way opened up by the power of tones in time. Sometimes, he brings all the instruments together, as in the opening number, to create a whole cosmos of sound at other times, notably in the arias, a lone instrument-now the flute, now the violin, now the oboe-steps forward like a wordless singer, whose tones intertwine with those of the soloist. Bach uses a double orchestra consisting of two so-called choruses. Supporting this vast web of vocal music is the orchestra. The work consists of several different kinds of music: large-scale choruses, harmonized Lutheran hymn tunes or chorales, elaborate arias or songs sometimes preceded by a recitative, and narrative sections in which the Evangelist and the characters in the drama sing rather than speak the words of Matthew’s text in German. The revised version that we know today was first performed in 1736. The original version of the work was first performed in 1727 on Good Friday in St.
It is a several-hours-long musical drama that depicts, expands and comments on Chapters 26 and 27 from Matthew’s Gospel, starting with Jesus’s foretelling of the crucifixion and ending with Pilate’s placement of guards at the tomb. Matthew Passion is impressive even by Bach’s standards. In moving us powerfully, they provoke our wonder: What is music that it can move us so? What is the relation here between words and tones? What role do our passions play in the Passion as depicted by Bach? What does Bach’s music contribute to our understanding of Christ’s suffering and death? Before turning to the aria and to these difficult questions, I offer the following brief introduction to Bach’s “great Passion” as a whole.
Matthew Passion are the most stunning evocations of passion in the work. My goal is to reflect on how the power of this aria can be made to appear by attending to its simplest elements.
#SEVENTH HEAVEN ETERNAL SONATA OST FULL#
Its full title is “Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben,” “Out of love is my Savior willing to die.” It is sung by a soprano and is in the key of A minor. I shall focus on an aria that appears at an advanced stage of the drama: number 58. Matthew Passion was known to members of the Bach family. My theme is the power of song in Bach’s “great Passion,” as the St. Victor Zuckerkandl, “Words and Tones in Song,” from Man the Musician Something that remains silent in words merely spokenīegins to flow, to vibrate the words open and the singer opens to them.” “For the singer, words acquire a very special plenitude and depth It is as though Bach, in his broad and deep humanity, his capacity for feeling all kinds and degrees of sorrow and joy, was reaching out to all his fellow human beings, believers and non-believers alike, and impressing upon them what was for him the potent truth of Christian faith. Matthew Passion, Bach indulges his gypsy soul.