It was the first time the work had been played outside Leipzig and the interest in Bach’s entire oeuvre was instantaneously reignited. In 1829, the celebrated, twenty-year-old Felix Mendelssohn staged a successful revival of the, then rather forgotten, masterpiece in a performance in Berlin. Matthew Passion speaks of tremendous confusion, with comments like “God preserve us, my children! it’s like a comic opera”. A description from 1732 of what is probably Bach’s St. Leipzig is also said to have been a conservative city from a musical perspective. Even back then, it was difficult to choose between all the cultural events on offer. On Good Friday that same year, there was another Passion, by Gottfried Frober, who was drawing the crowds. The central figure is the Evangelist who drives the narrative forward, while other song soloists give voice to the various participants of the drama.īach’s notes from 1729 about his experience of what had previously been assumed to be the première, indicate certain artistic shortcomings. This text is considered his foremost achievement, probably written in close collaboration with the composer. The librettist was Picander, the pseudonym of Christian Friedrich Henrici, with a reputation as a rather minor master. In addition, there are arias and hymns, the latter by various authors and selected by Bach himself. The text consists of chapters 26 and 27 in the Gospel according to Matthew of the Lutheran Bible, but there are also glimpses of the Song of Songs. Thomas Church had double organ lofts of different sizes. Matthew Passion is on a grander scale, composed for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra. The Gospel of Matthew is much more comprehensive and detailed in its story of Jesus on the cross than that of John the Evangelist, which is also reflected in the latter’s work. However, such romantic euphemisms do not seem to conform with the composer’s self-image. Matthew Passion is one of music history’s most titanic masterpieces, strongly contributing to Bach’s nickname as “the fifth evangelist” or “God’s musician”. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Bach had been the cantor since 1723. Matthew Passion, probably premièred the same year it was written, in 1727. John’s Passion, premièred in 1724, and the St. Unfortunately, only two have been preserved: The St. It is unclear how many times Johann Sebastian Bach composed the Passions, the gospel accounts of Jesus’s suffering and death.
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