J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244

Bach's greatest masterpiece! The St Matthew Passion explained in plain English! An introduction for those who want to listen to the whole work one day.

//Summary - Level B2// Audio -> https://murf.ai/share/le2r314a

Bach's St Matthew Passion is considered a masterpiece and a significant musical legacy of humanity. It's a musical work that depicts the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and realistically expresses the emotions of those who witnessed the Passion. The St Matthew Passion is performed during the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, and its performance on Good Friday is a tradition in German Protestant churches. The St Matthew Passion is based on chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It is considered a profound piece of music that speaks directly to the listener's heart and transcends religious boundaries.

//Summary - Level C1// Audio -> https://murf.ai/share/le2rbogf

Bach's St Matthew Passion is a highly esteemed musical work renowned for its virtuosity and profound emotional impact. A musical depiction of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the piece captures the essence of the Passion through its masterful representation of the emotions of those who were witnesses to the event. Performed annually during the Christian holiday of Easter, the St Matthew Passion is a time-honoured tradition in German Protestant churches. Its performance on Good Friday is a highlight of the religious calendar. Derived from chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, the St Matthew Passion is widely regarded as a musical masterpiece that transcends religious boundaries, speaking directly to the listener's heart and soul.

Contents

0:00 A) The opening

1:08 B) Why is it extraordinary?

3:39 C) What is the Passion?

6:29 D) Who is Matthew?

7:56 E)The story of Jesus Christ

12:34 F)The Evangelist and Jesus

13:39 G)The Chorus

14:41 H)Chorus

15:34 I)Aria

16:34 J)Chorus at the beginning

18:09 K)Prayer 39: Have mercy on me

A)Beginning

1)

Today I would like to talk briefly about Bach's St Matthew Passion.

Bach is one of the most popular of many composers.

One of his greatest masterpieces is the Matthew Passion.

2)

If I had to take one piece of music to a desert island, it would be St Matthew's Passion.

St Matthew's Passion is the most excellent piece of music in classical history.

It is not uncommon to hear people say things like "The Matthew Passion is the greatest musical heritage of mankind".

St Matthew's Passion, which we will present today, is full of extraordinary charm.

3)

The Passion is not recommended for beginners because it sounds complicated and takes about three hours to play.

Today is an introduction to the St. Matthew Passion, so I will introduce why this piece is so fantastic and its features for those who would like to listen to the whole work one day.

B) Why is the Matthew Passion so wonderful? - Song 57 Come, sweet cross.

4)

Let me begin by telling you why this Matthew Passion is so fantastic and why it is so important.

A passion is a musical work that tells the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

5)

In this story, a man with a flesh and blood body is scourged and carries his cross on his back up the hill of Golgotha.

He is then crucified and dies. This man is, of course, Jesus Christ.

It's an essential piece of music set to a biblical scene.

6)

There was a film by Mel Gibson called Passion.

In this film, the scenes of the Passion are very realistic.

The Crucifixion is a ruthless punishment, but it is portrayed realistically.

7)

However, it is not such a cruel reality that Bach depicted in his music.

Bach used music to express the dynamic movements of the people who experienced the Passion as an event.

He also expressed the deepest recesses of the human heart.

This profound music transcends religious boundaries and speaks directly to the listener's heart.

8)

The music depicts many emotions, including lament, grief, regret, pity and love.

Bach realistically expressed the feelings of those who witnessed the Passion. And it shakes the hearts of people living today.

It is a great comfort when it raises crucial questions in our hearts.

In this way, it gives excellent sympathy to our hearts.

9)

Nothing much music moves people's hearts sincerely like this St Matthew Passion.

This music is considered Bach's masterpiece and humanity's most significant musical legacy.

C) What is Passion? - Song 60 Where are you going?

10)

St Matthew's Passion was first performed on 11 April 1727 in the Thomas Church in Leipzig.

The most fantastic Christian festival is Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Christ.

Christmas no longer crosses religious boundaries and has become an event celebrated worldwide.

11)

Next in importance to Christmas is the holiday known as Easter.

This festival celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

According to the church calendar, Easter falls on a Sunday, so the date changes yearly.

Easter is usually from mid-March to mid-April.

12)

The most important aspect of Easter is the Passion of Christ.

Jesus Christ was resurrected because he was crucified and died.

Three days after his death, Jesus was resurrected, so it is celebrated with great fanfare as a miracle.

And this Passion has a crucial Christian idea of salvation.

13)

Christianity believes that humanity is born with sin, which is the idea of Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve broke God's word and ate the apple (the fruit of wisdom). Therefore, all the descendants of Adam and Eve carry their sins.

14)

What this Passion means in Christianity is that Jesus Christ atoned for the sins of humanity by being crucified.

Therefore, the Passion, Easter, has a tremendously important meaning in Christianity.

15)

The Friday before Easter celebrated in churches on Sunday, is called 'Good Friday' as the Passion.

In German Protestant churches, the Matthew Passion is performed on Good Friday.

Here people listen to their Passion through music, which makes them think about various things.

16)

There is no applause at the Matthew Passion on Good Friday.

If it were not for this day, there would typically be applause in church when the performers came in or finished a critical piece, but only on Good Friday is there no applause.

D) What is Matthew? Song 42 Give me back my Jesus

17)

Now let's look closely at what this Passion Song is about.

There are two versions of the Bible: the New and Old.

In the New Testament, there are four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Each Gospel tells the story of Jesus Christ.

They differ slightly in content, but they all begin with the birth of Jesus and mention various miracles of Jesus.

18)

It shows the Last Supper through Jesus' arrest, Passion and resurrection.

The Passion is mainly depicted from around the Last Supper to the Crucifixion.

Bach's St Matthew's Passion takes the titles 26 and 27 from St Matthew's Gospel.

19)

The biblical text is used literally in these passions.

Passion plays that use the Passion scene from Matthew's Gospel is called Matthew Passion plays.

Apart from this, the Passion that adopts the Passion scene of the Gospel of John is called the John Passion.

Bach's works are said to have been lost, but there are also Marco's Passion and Luke's Passion.

E) The story of Jesus Christ - No. 29 chorale

20)

Let us now look briefly at the story of Jesus Christ.

The first key to the story is why Jesus was arrested and crucified.

21)

Jesus was a Jew, and the Jews were under Roman rule then.

Judaism at the time was divided into two major factions, the Sadducees and the Pharisees.

In this situation, Jesus Christ performed many miracles and became known to the people as the 'Messiah'.

The even more significant influence of Jesus caused a great crisis between the two great powers.

22)

The story begins with the great men of these two great powers getting together to plan a defence and a strategy meeting to trap and kill Jesus.

The chief priests and elders are looking for a way to trap Jesus.

Judas, one of Jesus' 12 disciples, plays a vital role in this.

23)

Judas asks the chief priests, "How much will you give me? Let me betray this man to you all," and betrays Jesus.

It is followed by a scene where Jesus eats with the twelve disciples, and Jesus predicts, "One of you will betray me".

It is the scene known as the Last Supper.

24)

Judas then comes to Jesus with armed men in tow.

As a result, Jesus is arrested, and the disciples flee.

It is the first part of Bach's St Matthew Passion.

25)

Now the arrested Jesus is brought before the chief priests and elders.

The chief priests try to find evidence to kill Jesus, but no conclusive evidence is found.

However, witness after witness comes forward and testifies against Jesus.

26)

Finally, the high priest in charge of the scene addresses Jesus:

"Are you the Christ, the Son of God?"

Jesus replied: "Yes, I am".

The high priest says:

"This man has blasphemed. What more proof do you need?"

27)

And the people said: "That's right! This man deserves to die!" And they make a big fuss.

I said at the beginning that Bach expresses a lot of emotion in his music, which is a point of paying attention to people's feelings and so on.

28)

Jesus is then taken to a man called Pilate.

Pilate was the Roman governor of the Jews.

The Jews had no right to kill Jesus, so Pilate, the Roman governor, came in.

29)

Pilate examines Jesus according to the rules but finds no guilt.

At the trial, Jesus was accused by the chief priests and elders, but he did not say a word.

Pilate, the Roman governor, feared a Jewish revolt.

If Jesus had spoken, he might have been able to do something, but Pilate was worried since he did not talk.

30)

Fearing a Jewish revolt, Pilate used the system of releasing prisoners on festival days.

At this time, a man called Barabbas, a murderer, was taken prisoner.

He suggested that either Barabbas, the murderer, or Jesus should be executed, and one should be set free.

31)

The crowd, led by the elders, shouted at the top of their voices: 'Release Barabbas and execute Jesus'.

Pilate, unable to restrain the crowd, ordered the scourging and Crucifixion with the excuse that it was not his fault that this man was dead.

So, while being scourged, Jesus carries the cross and climbs the hill of Golgotha, where he is crucified and dies.

It is the general story of Matthew's Passion.

F) Evangelist and Jesus  - No. 2 Recitative

32)

Let us now look at the musical features of the Matthew Passion.

The story of the Matthew Passion revolves around the lines of the Evangelist, Jesus.

33)

The gospel historian(person's teachings or revelations of Jesus Christ) is also called the Evangelist.

It is the role of the singer of the biblical text and is responsible for the story's progression.

It is characterized by a recitative secco, in which the biblical text is recited to the accompaniment of a bass continuo.

34)

And an important character is Jesus.

Bach accentuated the presence of this Jesus by having the actor sing the lines of Jesus.

Since it is a dialogue, it is recitative for the Gospel historian and the phonogram, but Bach added string accompaniment for Jesus' lines.

35)

So when Jesus sings, the effect is like a light shining on it.

A tenor sings the Evangelist.

Also, a bass sings Jesus.

First of all essential to check the presence of these two.

G) The role of the chorus - 1st song Come, daughters.

36)

Now to these two, the chorus plays different roles.

In the St Matthew Passion, Bach divided the orchestra and the chorus into two groups.

Dialogue is realized using these two groups.

The first group asks a question which, is the second group answers the idea that if these two groups are placed on either side, the effect of the dialogue will also appear as an acoustic effect.

38)

One of the roles played by such a chorus is that of the people and disciples.

The scriptures of the people and the disciples are sung in chorus.

Usually, there is no acting in a Passion, but in this way, Bach gives drama to the music.

39)

Especially let the people crucify him! In the scene where he shouts, the feeling of people on the verge of rioting is realistically expressed in music.

H) Chorale - No. 62 Chorale

40)

Besides such Biblical characters, the choir has another role.

It's a hymn.

In the Matthew Passion, Protestant hymns called chorales are sung between biblical texts.

41)

The chorale usually sung in a church is a single melody, but the St. Matthew Passion is mainly a mixed 4-part chorus.

It means that the harmonies change from song to song.

It seems to reflect the hearts of the audience as they witness the story of the Passion.

It changes its appearance little by little as it gently ministers to the hearts of the listeners.

The choral melody gives the audience time to absorb the story that has just happened and to reflect it in their hearts.

I) Libretto of Aria and Picander - No. 13 Let's dedicate this heart to you

42)

Along with this melody, an aria based on Picander's libretto plays an important role.

In addition to the biblical text and melody, the Matthew Passion contains some arias.

The lyrics of this aria were written by a person named Picander.

43)

The lyrics of the arias do not represent the lines or sentiments of any specific person in the Bible.

Sometimes the aria areas the feelings of Judas, one of the disciples, but the feelings of 'someone' looking at the essential primary are sung.

The sentiments sung there are various, such as love, regret, tears, and repentance.

Bach composed many arias, but the ratio of this St. Matthew Passion is stunning and captivates the hearts of listeners.

J) Chorus at the beginning.

44)

Now that we have reached this point, we are ready to listen to many kinds of music.

Today I will conclude with two masterpieces from St Matthew's Passion.

The first thing to listen to is the opening chorus.

In the chorus at the beginning, the people's hearts are sung in grief at the sight of Jesus carrying the cross.

The rhythm in 12/8 time makes you feel like you are carrying a heavy cross and taking steps.

45)

The script for this scene was Picander's creation, but he presented the audience with a nitty-gritty scene before the biblical story began.

The chorus, divided into two groups, sings and interacts with "Look!"

Acoustically draws the audience into the dialogue.

46)

The boys' choir then sings the chorale melody mercy on us, O Jesus'.

In films, for example, a scene leading up to the climax story's climaxed at the beginning, and then time is rewound, and t and the story begin again.

It is exactlpreciselyBach did with his music.

Please listen to this opening chorale with this in mind.

K) Song 39: Have mercy on me!

47)

Next, I would like to introduce No. 39, "Please have mercy on me (alto)."

In the aria sung at the beginning of the second part, there is an essential scene of Peter's denial in this aria.

Before he is arrested, Jesus prophesies to his disciple Peter: "Three times tonight, before the cock crows, you will say that you do not know me".

Then Peter denies it with all his might.

48)

But things changed when Jesus was arrested.

Peter, like the other disciples, fled after Jesus' arrest.

Then a person finds Peter and says, "This man was also with that Jesus!"

Panicked, Peter vehemently denies it, saying, "No, I don't know anyone like that."

49)

People gather more and more, and when they deny it three times, the rooster crows.

Here Peter cries profusely as he remembers Jesus' prophecy.

Immediately afterwards, the alto aria is sung.

Have mercy on me, O God, for my tears.