A stupendous story that highlights the fate of humanity
St John Passion (JS Bach, 1724)
A Passion in some ways is like an opera. It is a sung drama, with soloists who play particular roles, a chorus and an orchestra. But in other ways Passions are completely unlike operas, which are profane things, full of lusty emotions and gaudy spectacle. Passions always tell the same story, but it’s a stupendous one: the story of Christ’s Passion, ie the Trial, Crucifixion and Burial of Jesus Christ. You would never see Passions in an opera house – until recent decades when some directors have tried to stage them. They happened in churches, where traditionally they were woven into one of the great services of the Easter weekend, such as the Eucharist or the Vespers. And although Passions can be gripping, they are pretty austere. There’s no scenery, no movement. The drama is sung and played, not shown.
BACKGROUND
By the time Bach arrived in Leipzig in 1723 to take up the post of director of music at St Thomas’s Church, the Passion form was already two centuries old. But it was a recent arrival in conservative Leipzig. The city’s first full-blown “Oratorio Passion”, ie one where the biblical story is embellished with new poetic commentaries and performed with lavish musical forces, only took place in 1717. As the new director, Bach was expected to provide one for his first Easter season, and in fact went on to compose five more, though only three have survived.
WHY BACH’S ST JOHN PASSION IS SO GREAT
Of Bach’s three surviving ones, the St Matthew has a lofty smooth perfection, and most people would say it’s the greatest. But I love the St John Passion of 1724. The first chorus has a uniquely urgent seriousness. I can think of no other piece which makes you feel that the fate of humanity is at stake, right now. Then there are the chorales or hymns, which are simple on the surface but harmonically enormously subtle. The Trial Scene is far more dramatic than the equivalent scene in the Matthew Passion.
WHAT TO LISTEN OUT FOR
For this listening guide, I’ve chosen a performance available on Youtube (at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=dd__ak6oonk) given at the 2018 Proms by the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. It has the advantage of subtitles in English.
1) Bear in mind that a Passion, like an opera, moves back and forth between action and reflection. The action moves forward during the rapid-fire exchanges between characters or when the Evangelist tells the story. The reflection happens during the arias, where one of the soloists meditates on what we’ve just learned.
2) Then there is the chorus, which also comments on the actions. Sometimes these commentaries are in the form of chorales, those sturdy hymns which the founder of Protestantism Martin Luther encouraged as a way of involving the populace in worship. But the chorus comments on the action in more complex ways too, and can even become a character, as in the Trial Scene where it becomes the mob baying for the blood of Jesus.
3) The essential thing is to let yourself be carried along by the force of the drama, which you can feel from the word go. The words of the opening chorus glorify Christ, but the throbbing bass, desperate keening oboes and stabbing dissonances (see Gardiner emphasise them at 00.19 and 00.25) draw us in and tell us something dreadful is going to happen. Then comes the story of Christ’s arrival in the Garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal by Judas, the tussle with the soldiers (Simon Peter cutting off the soldier’s ear gets a mention) all told by the Evangelist at speed.
4) How to listen to those chorales and arias, which are beautiful but keep bringing the drama to a halt? My advice is – rather than seeing them as interruptions, enjoy the sudden flip of viewpoint. Early on we’re told “Jesus was followed by Simon Peter and another disciple.” (18.45). At 18.59 this everyday act of following becomes a serenely happy meditation on the idea of following Christ as a believer.
5) If you’re finding it tough going, jump straight to the superbly dramatic Trial Scene, which starts at 36.36. Here, the flip between the trial and its deep “eternal” meaning become hugely moving.
6) After the Trial Scene, the pace slows, though there are still moments of riveting drama, such as the one where the veil of the Temple is rent (at 1.31.18) followed by a meditation on the meaning of this with “trembling” violins at 1.31.46, which melts at 1.32.42 into a beautiful soprano aria with accompanying flute and oboe. The majestically sorrowful closing chorus at 1.45.09 makes for a sublime ending.
RECOMMENDED RECORDINGS
The St John Passion is one of those pieces that any “period orchestra” (ie kitted out with instruments appropriate to the period) will want to record, so there are plenty of fine “period” versions to choose from. My favourite, because of its superb soloists including mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly, comes from the Academy of Ancient Music on the orchestra’s own label. There are also recordings by standard orchestras – the most intriguing is the dramatised version on DVD directed by Peter Sellars, with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic, released on the orchestra’s own label. Of the classic recordings, the one conducted in an English translation by Benjamin Britten with tenor Peter Pears as the Evangelist, available on the Decca label, is deeply moving.