Bach’s “Matthäus Passion"
by: Matthew Hundley
For this exercise I hit myself up with Bach’s Matthäus-Passion in three ways: first I watched several segments of the filmed performance with Karl Richter conducting the Munchener Bach-Orchester and choir; second, I listened (sometimes intently, sometimes as background) to the recordings of the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester performing the piece under the conductor Karl Muchinger; lastly, upon recognizing there are several elements from this piece that are used to underscore Pasolini’s film adaptation of Matthew’s Gospel I scanned that film for places where this score was used.
The opening number “Kommt, ihr Tochter, helft mir klagen” on the DVD blew me away. This was definitely a spiritual experience in sound and vision. The blend of voices along with the instrumentalists along with the setting including a giant cross flying over the heads of the chorale made for a very intense opening.
In listening to this piece, I found on the second disc familiar melodies like “Bin ich gleich von dir gewichen” and “Befeihl du deine Wege” which stand out as melodies found in most hymnals.
It was the very final track of this work “Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder” which cued me in that Pasolini had featured this music in his1964 film release, “Il Vangelo secondo Matteo” (The Gospel According St. Matthew). As I listen, I begin to picture Enrique Irazoqui (who portrays Jesus in the film) as he presents himself in resurrected form to his disciples.
Listening to this amazing and yet mammoth undertaking (some 3 hours of music) there were definitely some movements which stood out among the rest.
As previously noted, the opening number (Kommt, ihr Tochter, helft mire klagen) begins with a powerful, though subdued orchestral passage. Hold on to your seats though…This piece gets intense real quick. Just shy of two minutes into the track come voices, beautiful voices, which paint themselves layer upon layer on the ears, weaving in and out of an ocean of sound.
Another powerhouse piece is “Was mein Gott will, das g’schech’ allziet.” Very worshipful on many fronts. The kind of piece that grabs you by the gut.
“So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen” features vocal strikes, which stab you. Followed by the marthon paced “Und siehe, einer aus dene.”
There is plenty of variety of arrangement and styles represented here. “Bin ich gleich von dir gewichen” is, again, very worshipful. “Befeihl du deine Wege” is a meolody used in the standard hymnal. A variation of this melody is brought back with “Am Abend, da es kuhle war”
The Passion closes with the familiar “Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder” which is a fully loaded aural landscape with instrumental and vocal textures which truly chill the soul. This melody stays with you long after you hear it.
Bach 1685-1750
I have to admit, what little I might have known about Bach from music school has all but drained from my head. What I was curious about in particular was his theological training. From the liner notes I learned that:
Bach's basic training in theology began in Eisenach when, as a boy no older than eight, he began to study the Bible in Latin and German, as well as the Lutheran cate-chism. In Ohrdruf, where he studied from age ten to age fifteen, the Lyceum treated religious instruction as the crown of all learning. During later years in Lüneberg, training became even more explicitly theological. Here, as William Mellers reminds us, "music was second in importance only to theology and was taught by the same master."2 During these years we should also reckon with the indirect influences of singing year after year in boys' choirs.
Life as an organist must have continued the impulse to think theologically in response to sermon, Scripture, and hymns. At least it is recorded that when he was inducted into the Leipzig post at thirty-eight, he was required to pass an examination in theology. This is not surprising, for in the Thomasschule his assignment included in-structing the boys in the catechism. It has been estimated that one-fifth of the boys' time was allotted to theology and one-fifth to music. In the Lutheran heartland of those days, theology was closer to music than to history or to sociology, or even to philosophy. In fact, Martin Luther wrote: "We must not ordain young men into the ministry unless they have become well-acquainted with music."
We have called the composer a theologian. To justify the use of that term more evidence is needed than is provided by boyhood training or adult occupation. We need to ask what it is that makes a person a theologian. The first mark of a theologian, surely, is a concern for, if not an obsession with, God. If such a concern were the sole test, many professors of theology might fail, but Saint Sebastian would surely pass. As many historians have noted, his manuscripts often carried the initials S.D.G., soli deo gloria. In this regard, his marginal comment in his Bible on II Chron. 5:13, 14 is typical: "In devotional music, God with his grace is always present."4 This text describes the musical resources of the temple: 120 trumpeters, the choirs of Levitical singers, accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres, all joined in praise to the Lord, "for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever." No less than Luther did Bach believe that "the whole purpose of harmony is the glory of God; all other use is but the idle juggling of Satan."5 And, as Leonard Bernstein has said, "For Bach all music is religious; writing it was an act of worship. Every note was dedicated to God and to nothing else."6 In this respect, we may note a profound affinity between the German composer and the American theologian, Jonathan Edwards, for whom the glory of God was the end for which God created the world. Of this accent, Bach's Magnificat provides powerful evidence.
When we ask what it is that makes a theologian a Christian theologian, the answer is again all too obvious: a conviction that Jesus Christ is the revelation of God, not only "the joy of man's desiring" but also the joy of God's giving. This aspect of Bach's thought becomes clear in his two great Passions.
A second objective of liturgical theology is to expand the span of time in the consciousness of the worshipers. In the St. Matthew Passion, of course, that span includes the distance between Golgotha and Good Friday, 1729. But the preface to this Passion extends this span backward by its dialogue between the Daughter of Zion and the Faithful. The libretto begins with the words of the Daughter of Zion calling all her daughters to come and observe what is about to take place. The words bring into the zone of awareness the long sequence of prophetic promises in Isaiah and Zechariah. The Daughter represents the messianic community to which God has promised deliverance. Now, in this dramatic moment, she recognizes her bridegroom (Brautigam) coming in the form of a lamb (Lamm) and calls all her daughters to share her discovery. By sharing in this recognition of the royal bridegroom, coming in the humiliation of a slaughtered lamb, the congregation in Leipzig found itself linked through the story of Jesus to the whole saga of Israel.
So what was the context of Matthews passion?
Leipzig was where Johann Sebastian Bach spent 27 immensely productive years as cantor in St Thomas's Church and Director musices from 1723 until his death in 1750, creating his major works such as the Johannes-Passion (BWV 245) and Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244), the Mass in B minor (BWV 232) and The Art of the Fugue (BWV 1080).
Matthaus-Passion
The earliest form of Bach’s “Matthaus-Passion” emerged in 1729 when he was forty-years-old. It was first performed on Good Friday of that year at St. thomas’s Church, Leipsic where Bach held the office of “Cantor.” The extended form which is now common was completed around 1740. The piece did not earn wide recognition until 1829, one hundred years after its first production, when it was performed in Berlin under the direction of Mendelssohn.
The Bach society of London first performed the piece in 1854. The first English edition of the work was introduced in 1862 under scrutiny as to whether this “sublime religious work” would retain its rightful place and honor in the new tongue. It was the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston who first performed the piece in the United States in 1874.
The Ethos of the Oratorio
What is Bach communicating through this piece? Awe, wonder, glory, majesty all seem to seep out of this score. How does one capture the essence of Christ in music? How does a composer notate the majesty and magnificence of the Son of God. This is the ethos at the heart of the oratorio. The significant truth which shines through this piece is the awesome nature of what Christ did for us.
The Music and The Composer’s Vision
Bach wrote his first Passion, according to St. John, in 1724, one year after he had started his duties as cantor (the head of pedagogical and religious musical activity) at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Three years later, in 1727, his new Passion, according to St. Matthew, was performed for the first time. In Bach's version, only chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel were composed, without chapter 28, which describes the resurrection. In Protestant theology, contrary to that of the Catholics and Orthodox, the principle of self-sacrifice (the crucifixion) is more important than glory (resurrection).
Worship through Bach
Is it worshipful? The answer to this question is a resounding YES. Could any portion of this work be brought into the context of a worship setting today. Most certainly. In fact, as noted above, several melodies from this work have already been extracted for inclusion in the hymnal. The bigger challenge is…
Relevance to Our Time
How do we introduce this piece to new listeners? I think in this time of an upswing of classical music used in urban churches (like Redeemer Presbyterian in New York), and emerging worship styles which incorporate snippets of the old mixed with snippets of the new, and in a time of postmodern openness to everything which might help navigate the course, in this case of worship. Bach’s “Matthäus Passion” is ripe for revival.
I did not speak much on Pasolini’s movie, however I would point out that in some senses Pasolini faced similar challenges to Bach. He was attempting to portray the Gospel to mostly illiterate Catholics in Italy using the medium of film. Bach too is attempting to capture Christ, through music. Both men, according to critics, were successful in their attempts. With the “Matthäus Passion” there is just this magical power that shines through as if the Spirit had his hand on Bach’s shoulder while he was penning this.
****
Sources
CD
Bach, Sacred Masterworks, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester/Karl Muchinger, Conductor
Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244
DVD
Bach, Matthäus-Passion, Munchener Bach-Orchester/Karl Richter, Conductor
BOOK
Johan Sebastian Bach, St. Matthew’s Passion Vocal Score (Edwin F Kalmus, New York)
INTERNET
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) St. Matthew Passion ("Matthäus-Passion"); Yonathan Bar Yoshafat; http://www.bach-cantatas.com/VD/BWV244-Part1.htm
Bach and Today's Theologians; Paul S. Minear; Theology Today, v 42 n 2 July 1985; http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/jul1985/v42-2-criticscorner1.htm
Posted: June 20, 2008  
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