Bach's St. John Passion by Julian Wachner
/ March 2, 2003
Version française...
In the twentieth century, Bach's mastery of
musical composition was an undisputed fact; his music served as the foundation
of the entire body of repertoire known as the common practice period, "Bach to
Brahms" that makes up the canon of western art-music. The twenty-first century
is identifying J. S. Bach as an ecumenical and theologically complex composer
who uses his musical craft to illuminate theological issues. Thus for Bach,
every choice of key, instrument, voice part, polyphonic texture, or
compositional style has theological significance. His musical genius is simply
one tool of many for the edification of his congregation. The academic approach
to Bach scholarship downplayed this fact in the last century, particularly in
the 50's and 60's, but now, due to some pioneering scholarship and research by
theologian-musicologists (Robin Leaver, Michael Marrissen spring to mind), we,
as a listening and performing audience may have a truer and more universal
appreciation for Bach's stunning accomplishments.
For example, in the St. John Passion, one of Bach's two surviving
setting of the Passion Narrative, much has been written about the palindromic,
"mathematical" quality of the second part (where Jesus is standing trial before
Pilate and being condemned to crucifixion), particularly in Bach's symmetrical
pairing of identical choral movements: in between Wir haben ein Gesetz (a
fugue in F major) and Laessest du diesen los (the same fugue with new words transposed to E major), there
is a chorale of sublime beauty in the midst of this horrific scene of betrayal,
crowd mentality and injustice. It is this chorale that had usually been
identified as the axis of symmetry for the work, but in reality, it is the
narrative immediately preceding it that is the dramatic central point to the
work, for in it Jesus' fate is sealed and it is clear that he will not escape
crucifixion. At this point, in Bach's original manuscript, Bach adds the E major
key signature, and thus one gets a visual image of four sharps, which are in
essence two juxtaposed crosses : #. When one combines this with a reading of the
text, it sends shivers down the spine to turn the page and have 40 crosses
appear down the side of the manuscript. This is a deliberate key choice to make
a theological point.
Another example of Bach's clever
merging of matters musical and theological is his use of the archaic viola da
gamba which makes its only appearance at the very point where Jesus utters "Es
ist vollbracht" – meaning, "It is done." Again, a magical moment, but only if
one is aware of Bach's rhetorical sophistication in matching an historical
identification with a theological statement.
The St. John Passion is probably Bach's most vivid and hair-raising work
particularly due to the dramatic and concise nature of its biblical text. The
musical presentation is as dramatic and propelling as the most dynamic of opera
seria! The writing for the Evangelist is rich with text-painting with highly
chromatic passages for Peter's weeping bitterly, a strange cello arpeggio for
the rooster's crowing, and intense harmonies for the depiction of
Golgatha.
Yet, the many chorales display a
personal religious reflection of the truths in the gospel. Excepting perhaps the
first and last of part Two, the chorales invite an introspective application of
the text to the life of the believer. For this reason, many modern performances
invite the audience to sing the chorales with the chorus, although this was not
practice in Leipzig. Audience participation may diminish the passive listening
experience, but it creates the atmosphere of active and intentional
participation, which surely is the historically accurate choice!
Julian Wachner directs the Church of St. Andrew
and St. Paul Choir in Bach's St. John Passion on March 16 at 4 p.m. Freewill Offering.
514-842-3431
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