Passion (music)

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Carved wood Passion altarpiece, Odense Cathedral Claus Berg - Odense Cathedral main altar.jpg
Carved wood Passion altarpiece, Odense Cathedral

In Christian music, a Passion is a setting of the Passion of Christ. Liturgically, most Passions were intended to be performed as part of church services in the Holy Week.

Contents

Passion settings developed from medieval intoned readings of the Gospel texts relating Christ's Passion, to which later polyphonic settings were added. Passion Plays, another tradition that originated in the Middle Ages, could be provided with music such as hymns, contributing to Passion as a genre in music.

While Passion music in Catholic countries had to compete with other devotions such as the Stations of the Cross, the Improperia and Tenebrae, in Protestant Germany settings of the Gospels became a focal point of Passiontide services, with Passion cantatas (and later Passions in oratorio format) performed on Passion Sunday, Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Its best known examples, the Bach Passions, date from the first half of the 18th century.

Later musical settings of the Passion of Christ, such as the Jesus Christ Superstar Rock opera, or Arvo Pärt's Passio refer to these earlier Christian traditions to varying degrees.

History

The reading of the Passion from one of the Gospels during Holy Week dates back at least to the 4th century [1] and is described by Egeria. In the 5th century Pope Leo the Great specified that the gospel of Matthew be used on Palm Sunday and the following Wednesday and that of John on Good Friday; by the 10th century Luke replaced Matthew on Wednesday and Mark was added on Tuesday.

The passion began to be intoned (rather than just spoken) in the Middle Ages, at least as early at the 8th century. 9th-century manuscripts have "litterae significativae" indicating interpretive chant, and later manuscript begin to specify exact notes to be sung. By the 13th century different singers were used for different characters in the narrative, a practice which became fairly universal by the 15th century, when polyphonic settings of the turba passages began to appear also (Turba, while literally meaning "crowd," is used in this case to mean any passage in which more than one speaker speaks simultaneously). The formula of the present Graduale Romanum was the most widespread, with Christ singing in the lowest register and Synagogus (denoting not only the high priest but all characters besides Christ) singing higher than the evangelist/narrator. In Spain a Toledan tone with the evangelist's part recto tono (on a monotone) was used in Castile and a Saragossan tone with a bass evangelist and a florid tenor Christus was used in much of Aragon, where the Roman tone also had a foothold in Valencia.

Testimony - in parallel fifths - of the false witnesses from Guerrero's responsorial Matthew's Passion (1585). Duo falsi testes.png
Testimony in parallel fifths of the false witnesses from Guerrero's responsorial Matthew's Passion (1585).

In the later 15th century a number of new styles began to emerge:

Roman Catholic music

In the 16th century many settings, chiefly of the responsorial type, were written by William Byrd (St. John, 3vv), Jacobus Gallus, Francisco Guerrero (five including second St. John, mostly 5vv), Orlando di Lasso (all four, 4vv), Cypriano de Rore (St John) and Victoria.

In Roman Catholicism settings of (parts of) the Tenebrae service however became the leading format for music to commemorate Christ's Passion and death during Holy Week, with for example Leçons de ténèbres , Tenebrae responsories, and settings of the Miserere psalm. Notable examples of such music, like Gesualdo's Tenebrae Responsoria, are sometimes characterized as "a Passion in all but name". [2]

A later development of the Catholic passion was the reflective passion-oratorio such as Metastasio's Italian libretto La passione di Gesù Cristo set by Caldara, Salieri and many other composers between 1730 and 1812.

Latin passions continued in parallel with the style of Metastasio, often set by minor composers such as little known Carlo Sturla, music master at the Convent of Santa Brigida, who also set a Latin passion in 18th Century operatic style, Passio di Venerdì Santo, for the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Genoa in 1736.

Protestant music

Martin Luther wrote, "The Passion of Christ should not be acted out in words and pretense, but in real life." Luther felt that elaborate polyphony would distract from the importance of the sacred passion text. Despite this, sung Passion performances were common in Lutheran churches right from the start, in both Latin and German, beginning as early as Laetare Sunday (three weeks before Easter) and continuing through Holy Week. Luther's friend and collaborator Johann Walther wrote responsorial Passions which were used as models by Lutheran composers for centuries, and “summa Passionis” versions continued to circulate, despite Luther's express disapproval. Later sixteenth-century passions by G.M. Asola, Samuel Besler, William Byrd, Leonard Lechner, and Jakob Meiland included choral “exordium” (introduction) and “conclusio” sections with additional secular texts. [3]

Thomas Strutz wrote a passion (1664) with arias for Jesus himself, pointing to the standard oratorio tradition of Schütz and Carissimi. The practice of using recitative for the Evangelist (rather than plainsong) was a development of court composers in northern Germany, such as Johann Meder and Schütz, and only crept into church compositions at the end of the 17th century. The recitative was used for dramatic expression. [3]

In the 17th century came the development of “oratorio” passions which led to J.S. Bach’s passions, accompanied by instruments, with interpolated instrumental interludes (often called "sinfonias" or "sonatas") or with interpolated texts (then called “madrigal” movements) such as other Scripture passages, Latin motets, chorale arias, and more. Such settings were created by Bartholomäus Gesius and Heinrich Schütz.

The best known Protestant musical settings of the Passion are by Johann Sebastian Bach, who, according to his obituary, wrote five Passions in his lifetime. Two have survived to the present day: one based on the Gospel of John (the St John Passion ), the other on the Gospel of Matthew (the St Matthew Passion ). Additionally, a libretto for the St Mark Passion survives. Although Bach's settings are now among the most popular Passions today, they were rarely performed during his lifetime.

The Passion continued to be very popular in Protestant Germany in the 18th century, with Bach's second son Carl Philipp Emanuel composing over twenty settings. Major composers of passions included Graun, Telemann, Keiser, Stölzel, Mattheson and Handel - these last five also composing Brockes-Passions after the text of Barthold Heinrich Brockes.

Romantic and Modern music

In the 19th century, Passion settings were less popular. Some examples of such works are the Oratorio Christus (Op. 97, 1847) by Felix Mendelssohn, Das Suhnopfer des neuen Bundes (1847) and Kleine Passionsmusik (?) of Carl Loewe, Les sept paroles du Christ (?) of Cesar Franck, John Stainer's The Crucifixion (1887), Die Passion (Op. 93, 1896) of Heinrich von Herzogenberg, and Christus. Mysterium in a Prelude and Three Oratorios (Opp. 70–73, 1899) by Felix Draeseke. However, in the 20th century, they have again come into fashion. Two notable settings are the St. Luke Passion (1965) by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki and the Passio (1982) by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Another is the Passionsmusik nach dem Lukasevangelium of Rudolf Mauersberger.

In 2000 Helmuth Rilling and the Internationale Bachakademie commissioned four modern composers to compose passions on the four Gospels; Matthew was allocated to Tan Dun - Water Passion After St Matthew, Mark to Osvaldo Golijov - La Pasión Según San Marcos, Luke to Wolfgang Rihm - Deus Passus, and John to Sofia Gubaidulina - St John Passion (Страсти по Иоанну).

Examples

A relative of the musical Passion is the custom of setting the text of Stabat Mater to music.[ citation needed ]

English

In the English repertoire, the two classics are The Crucifixion (1887) by Sir John Stainer and Olivet to Calvary (1904) by John Henry Maunder. Other works include Sir Arthur Somervell's The Passion of Christ (1914), Charles Wood's St Mark Passion (1921) and Eric Thiman's The Last Supper (1930).

More recent examples include James MacMillan's Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993), the Passion According to St. Matthew (1997), by Mark Alburger, The Passion According to the Four Evangelists by Scott King, and The Passion and Resurrection According To St. Mark (2015/2017) by Christian Asplund.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar (book and lyrics by Tim Rice), and Stephen Schwartz's Godspell both contain elements of the traditional passion accounts. Another modern version is by Adrian Snell (1980). Peter Gabriel's score to Martin Scorsese's 1988 film the Last Temptation of Christ was released as an album under the title Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ .

German

German Passion cantatas include Der Tod Jesu (1755), with text by Karl Wilhelm Ramler and music by Georg Philipp Telemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and by Carl Heinrich Graun, and the Passion Cantatas Die letzten Leiden des Erlösers (1770), with text by various people and music by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (taken largely from his St Matthew Passion of 1769) and Gottfried August Homilius's cantata Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld HoWV 12 (1775). A later example is Das Sühnopfer des neuen Bundes by Carl Loewe (1847). In Danish there are also passion cantatas with music by the Bach critic Johann Adolf Scheibe to the text, Vor Harpe er bleven til Sorrig by Johannes Ewald, and the Sørge-Cantata ved Christi Grav Herrens Salvede, som var vor Næses Aand by the same librettist and composer.

Latin

Stanzas of the medieval hymn Salve mundi salutare [4] – also known as the Rhythmica oratio –, a poem formerly ascribed to St. Bonaventure or Bernard of Clairvaux, but now thought more likely to have been written by medieval poet Arnulf of Leuven (died 1250) was arranged as a cycle of seven cantatas in 1680 by Dieterich Buxtehude, Membra Jesu Nostri . Franz Liszt included an arrangement of Paul Gerhardt's O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden in the sixth station of his Via crucis (Stations of the Cross), Saint Veronica wipes the Holy Face.

A notable work in Latin is Arvo Pärt's Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem (The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to John) of 1982.

Other

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passion of Jesus</span> Final period in the life of Jesus, before his crucifixion and death

The Passion is the short final period before the death of Jesus, described in the four canonical gospels. It is commemorated in Christianity every year during Holy Week.

St John Passion or, in Latin, Passio Domini Nostri Iesu Christi secundum Ioannem, refers to the Passion of Christ as told in chapters 18 and 19 of the Gospel of John.

<i>St Matthew Passion</i> 1727 sacred oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach

The St Matthew Passion, BWV 244, is a Passion, a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets the 26th and 27th chapters of the Gospel of Matthew to music, with interspersed chorales and arias. It is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of Baroque sacred music. The original Latin title Passio Domini nostri J.C. secundum Evangelistam Matthæum translates to "The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Evangelist Matthew".

<i>St John Passion</i> 1724 musical composition by Johann Sebastian Bach

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passio (Pärt)</span> 1982 musical composition by Arvo Pärt

Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem, also known as the St. John Passion or simply Passio, is a passion setting by Arvo Pärt for solo baritone (Jesus), solo tenor (Pilate), solo vocal quartet (Evangelist), choir, violin, oboe, cello, bassoon and organ. The work lasts approximately 70 minutes and is a setting of the Latin text from the Gospel of John, chapters 18 and 19, plus a brief introduction and conclusion.

The St Mark Passion, BWV 247, is a lost Passion setting by Johann Sebastian Bach, first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday, 23 March 1731. Though Bach's music is lost, the libretto by Picander is still extant, and from this, the work can to some degree be reconstructed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evangelist (Bach)</span> Role of a singer

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vox Christi</span>

Vox Christi, Latin for Voice of Christ, is a setting of Jesus' words in a vocal work such as a Passion, an Oratorium or a Cantata. Conventionally, for instance in Protestant music of the Baroque era, the vox Christi is set for a bass voice.

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<i>St Matthew Passion</i> structure

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<i>St John Passion</i> structure Sacred oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach

The structure of the St John Passion, BWV 245, a sacred oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday 1724, is "carefully designed with a great deal of musico-theological intent". Some main aspects of the structure are shown in tables below.

<i>Tristis est anima mea</i> (attributed to Kuhnau) Sacred motet attributed to Johann Kuhnau

Tristis est anima mea is a sacred motet for five voices attributed to Johann Kuhnau, Thomaskantor in Leipzig. The text is the second responsory at Tenebrae for Maundy Thursday, one of the Latin texts kept in the liturgy after the town converted to Lutheranism.

<i>Wer ist der, so von Edom kömmt</i> Pasticcio Passion oratorio

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Christopher Watson is a British tenor specialising in Early music, Baroque, and Contemporary repertoire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christus, der uns selig macht</span>

"Christus, der uns selig macht" is a German Lutheran Passion hymn in eight stanzas in German by Michael Weiße, written in 1531 as a translation of the Latin hymn "Patris Sapientia" to an older melody of the Bohemian Brethren.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld</span> Lutheran hymn for Passiontide by Paul Gerhardt

"Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld" is a Lutheran Passion hymn in German by Paul Gerhardt. The hymn text was first published in Johann Crüger's Praxis Pietatis Melica, starting from the lost 1647 edition. Wolfgang Dachstein's 16th-century "An Wasserflüssen Babylon" melody is commonly indicated as its hymn tune, although other settings exist.

<i>Der Gerechte kömmt um</i> (motet) Motet with arrangement attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach

Der Gerechte kömmt um, BWV 1149, is a motet for SSATB singers and instrumental ensemble, which, for its music, is based on the five-part a cappella motet Tristis est anima mea attributed to Johann Kuhnau, and has the Luther Bible translation of Isaiah 57:1–2 as text. The arrangement of the Latin motet, that is, transposing it to E minor, adjusting its music to the new text, and expanding it with an instrumental score for two traversos, two oboes, strings and basso continuo, is attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. The setting is found in a manuscript copy, likely written down in the 1750s, of Wer ist der, so von Edom kömmt, a Passion oratorio which is a pasticcio based on compositions by, among others, Carl Heinrich Graun, Georg Philipp Telemann and Bach. Likely Der Gerechte kömmt um existed as a stand-alone motet, for example for performance on Good Friday or at a funeral, before being adopted in the pasticcio.

St Mark Passion is a Passion, written in baroque style by Nikolaus Matthes (*1981) between April 2019 and April 2020. It describes the passion, death and sepulture of Jesus. It contains the entire text of chapters 14 and 15 of the Gospel of Mark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passions (Homilius)</span> Passions by Gottfried August Homilius

Gottfried August Homilius composed Passions for Good Friday services at the Kreuzkirche in Dresden where he was music director (Kreuzkantor) from 1755 to 1785, including oratorios based on the gospels of Matthew and John, Luke and Mark in German. While these works were neglected, their revival began at the Kreuzkirche and led to publications, performances and recordings. Reviewers agree that the compositions in the style of Empfindsamkeit deserve attention.

References

  1. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Passion Music"  . Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  2. Alex Ross. "Gesualdo: 'The Prince of Darkness'" in The New Yorker . December 19 and 26, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Duff, Robert."The Baroque Oratorio Passion." D.M.A. University of Southern California, 2000, 21-92.
  4. Text of Salve Mundi Salutare http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13408a.htm