Bach's St Matthew Passion

From: http://www3.dmagazine.com/events/
details/St-Matthew-Passion-Dallas-
Symphony-Orchestra

One of the first classical LP sets I ever purchased was a previously owned copy of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, conducted by Herbert von Karajan, with whom I was unfamiliar. Nor was I familiar with the set’s Jesus, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, nor the other excellent soloists Peter Schreier, Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, and Walter Berry. Studying classical music on my own, I soon learned that these were very notable contemporary musicians. Eventually I purchased the Otto Klemperer set and, by then, I appreciated that set’s singers: Fiescher-Dieskau, Berry, and Ludwig again, and also Sir Peter Pears, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Nicolai Gedda, John Carol Case, Helen Harper, Helen Wats, Geraint Evans, and others. I’ve been playing the Klemperer set for Holy Week this week.  


I found an article by Joshua Rifkin concerning the Passion (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Articles/SMP%5BRifkin%5D.htm) Rifkin notes that after Bach moved to Leipzig in 1723, he wrote many cantatas as well as the St. John Passion and other works. But after the summer of 1725 his productions of cantatas nearly ceased and he never resumed his earlier prolific output of weekly services. Yet, during that seemingly “down” time, he composed the St Matthew Passion, “the longest and most elaborate work that he ever composed. It would appear that he saw significant phase of his life drawing to a close and took the occasion to produce a work that would synthesize and surpass all that he had previously done in the realm of liturgical music. The St. Matthew Passion was his last major composition for the Leipzig congregation. (The few large sacred pieces still to come – the B-minor Mass (BMV 232), the Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, and the lost St. Mark Passion of 1731, BWV 247 – consists mainly of adaptations of music written for other purposes; furthermore, Bach apparently did not intend the Mass for church use, and the oratorio is actually a series of six cantatas, each sung on a different day.)” The St Matthew Passion was first performed in 1727 or possibly 1729.

He writes of the St. Matthew Passion: “The action of the libretto unfolds on three levels. Chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel According to Matthew present the events of Christ's suffering and death; the story is divided by Bach and Picander into two unequal parts (not corresponding to the chapters of the Gospel), the first ending with Christ's capture. Picander's twenty-eight recitatives and arias ... offer a concise and often affecting commentary on the drama. The fifteen chorales mediate between the other elements: like the recitatives and arias, they connect the action to the present; but they also belong to the liturgy and thus share the higher authority of the Gospel. ....



“The disposition of the chorales and madrigalesque verses follows the dictates of the unfolding drama, relying on subtle connections of imagery and expression rather than on a systematic architectural plan to establish continuity and formal coherence. The elements of the libretto interrelate in a number of ways. For example, their confrontation creates symbolic dialogues like the exchange "Herr, bin ich's? Ich bin's, sallte büssen" produced by the juxtaposition of the chorus of the disciples (No. 15) and the succeeding chorale, or the reply to Pilate's question "Was hat er denn übels getan?" (No. 56) with the recitative "Er hat uns allen wohlgetan" (No. 57). This movement and the following aria, "Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben," momentarily relax the tension of the scene; but commentary can intensify the action as well: immediately before Pilate speaks, the chorale "Wie wunderbarlich ist dach diese Strafe!" (No. 55) heightens and transforms the savage emotions unleashed by the crowd screaming "Lass ihn kreuzigen!" (No. 54). Other interpolated movements expand emotions and ideas latent in the biblical text. Peter's remorse, succinctly described by the Evangelist with the words "Und ging heraus, und weinete bitterlich" (No. 46), underlies the aria "Erbarme dich" (No. 47) and the chorale "Bin ich gleich van dir gewichen" (No.48), while the recitative "O Schmerz!" (No. 25) and the following aria, "Ich will bei meinem lesum wachen," deepen, then radiantly dispel, the atmosphere of gloom that enshrouds Christ in Gethsemane.”

Here is a website that provides the words and the translation: http://music.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/0104_passion/index.shtml

And... Here is a YouTube video of the whole piece, from 1971, conducted by Karl Richter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVo6YUlwfeA
And here is a more recent recording (if you prefer more contemporary interpretations) conducted by Philippe Herreweghe.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaD5e0w2srU