Pixabay

If you thought the John Passion was pretty hefty at a bit over 2 hours, then this epic 3 hour piece of music full of drama and emotion will be a revelation! Utilizing 2 choirs and 2 orchestras, this is Bach at his peak of compositional prowess.

Nothing compares to performing this piece, and although I do it many times in the weeks before Easter, I still find it a moving and dramatic piece that really drains me to perform it.

Like in my previous post about the John Passion, this is a highlights (for me) reel of the complete Passion, with the thoughts that usually accompany me when I am playing.

I am not religious, but I really believe that this music can evoke emotions that far transcend the story of Christ as viewed by the disciple Matthew.

I haven't been able to always find performances that were the "perfect" one, but I hope the text that I add about my experiences help someone also perhaps find the same beauty and tragedy in this epic work that I feel when I play it.

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The Beginning

Come, daughters, help me

Again, like the John Passion, this is the beginning of an epic story. It employs the full 2 orchestras, 2 choirs and a boys choir. The forces speak to each other, promising a story that will span the next few hours.

A touch of joy and love

I give you my heart

What is more joyful than the thought of giving someone your entire love and devotion? The opening is really a thing of yearning beauty, followed by a playful aria.

Deep Satisfaction

With pleasure I want to be comfortable, to accept cross and cup

There is something deeply comforting about a bass singer that really puts you at ease.

Let loose

Are there lightning, have thunder disappeared in clouds?

Finally after so much time, it is time to let loose and start hacking into the violin/viola! With thunder and lightning, this is a time to make NOISE!

The close of the first half

O man, weep for your sin

We began with both choirs and both orchestras and the boys choir. We close with the same. I love this piece, with the boys choir cutting through the chaos of the two massed choir/orchestra conversations. The parts and conversations are scattered throughout both armies of musicians but you wouldn't notice it in the audience. It is also a test of any ensemble, it is the easiest place for things to become tangled and fall to pieces. Which would be an embarassing way to end the first half. Also the boys get to go home now....

Now things get serious

Patience patience! If I'm stung by false tongues

The gamba player has been sitting around for the whole concert (about 1.5 hours so far), and now he has a whopping great solo to play. It is one of the most challenging pieces in the repertoire, so to go in cold is pretty nerve wracking! None the less, it really is one of the highlights of the Passion, with the contrast between the calm and the vicious jumps in the gamba. It really is a moment where things are starting to go wrong (in the story!).

The tear jerkers begin

Have mercy, my God!

The first of the violin soli (in the first orchestra), is a plaintive plea for mercy. The violin has a deceptively simple sounding melody that tears against the backdrop of a shifting harmony in the strings. Dissonances abound, to further emphasize the desire for release.

Smash the place!

Give me my Jesus again!

This is the second violin solo (this time in the second orchestra). It is the part of the story where Jesus smashes up the money lenders in the temple. The flurry of scales and virtuosity in the violin is the picture of the silver flying everywhere. I love this movement so much, it really is a great moment of joyful vengeance!

Immense loneliness

Out of love, my Savior wants to die

This is a heartbreakingly beautiful piece that all flutists will kill to play. The immense desolation of the solo flute flanked by the two oboes is hard to put into words. It really is a moment when time stands still and you feel the immense eternity of time.

The beginning of the end

Come, sweet cross

If the last gamba solo was difficult, then this is the killer. It really is the true test of a gambist, and the one that I have played with in the last few seasons has been completely amazing (not this girl, even better!). There is nothing better than sitting on stage and listening to a great rendition of this piece.

This is the feeling that you know that everything is going to go badly, but somehow there is a beauty in the journey to be found still.

Comic?

See, Jesus has his hand stretched out, come!

Why is this here? The almost macabre comical nature of this aria is completely out of place at this stage in the story.

Repentance

Make yourself, my heart, clean

This plea for forgiveness and repentance is really for me the highlight of the Passion. Be it a mix of exhaustion or the drama of the previous hours, but I really struggle to hold back tears at this point. If I would have something played at my funeral this would be one of the things on the shortlist. The sheer yearning for something true and pure in this aria again reminds me of things that are past and that can never again be recovered.

The bitter end

We sit down with tears

I have to say, this time Bach finished it right. There is a tragic yet hopeful end, no more needed to be said. This has been an epic journey and like all things when they finish, there is nothing to do except to sit and reflect.

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