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Every year before Easter, there is a huge amount of beautiful Easter music... most of it being the two great Bach Passions, John (Johannes) and Matthew (Matteus). These are really epic works of story-telling and drama, which I always enjoy... even more if they are performed in the dramatic way, and not in a holy holy reverent manner (sadly, it is hard to find decent recordings which push these barriers, as most of modern Classical music is more intent on producing inoffensive sounds...).... For much of the Passion Arias, I find that Bach is trying to convey quite complex emotions, the mixing of joy and duty, the hopeful sadness... all those mix of things that really make him stand out as a giant of the music world.

Anyway, tonight... my Passion season officially opens, with a Johannes... The shorter of the two, it is full of really great arias and superb moments. Both Passions are pieces that bring me to great joy and almost to tears in a performance. I do find them quite emotionally moving... even though I'm not religious at all! So, I'm going to share a few of the best arias from the Passion... and just chat about what is going on at that moment (also from my point of view!). There are a lot of Recitiativi (narration...) and Chorales missing... but those I find are more for pushing the story along or as religious set pieces rather than the real emotional parts!

The Opening Choir

The opening choir ("Lord, our Lord, whose glory is magnificent in all the earth!") is an foreboding entrance. There are long dissonant lines in the winds with the upper string giving a undercurrent of unease... with the bass and violas thumping along like a heart beat. It is the set up to an epic story... and something bad is going to happen! As a musician, it is the beginning of the night... the start of the journey. I love this moment, the potential for anything the to happen in the performance is here... ready to unfold!

Herr, unser Herrscher, dessen Ruhm
In allen Landen herrlich ist!
Zeig uns durch deine Passion,
Daß du, der wahre Gottessohn,
Zu aller Zeit,
Auch in der größten Niedrigkeit,
Verherrlicht worden bist!

Lord, our ruler, Whose fame
In every land is glorious!
Show us, through Your passion,
That You, the true Son of God,
Through all time,
Even in the greatest humiliation,
Have become transfigured!

Bound by Duty

In this first major aria of the night ("From the bonds of my sins"), the oboes take centre stage... (oh yes, there is a singer as well... but I'm an instrumentalist... the singer is excess noise!). I love the sound of the oboes, there is always such a sad quality to their sound... and when it is employed by Bach in this manner, it really highlights the attempt to escape from the soul's bonds.

From my point of view... I'm just sitting and listening and enjoying... oddly enough, at this stage... the violins (and the violas) are not really doing that much! We have a big break near the start of the piece! At the start of the Passion season, I'm still quite fresh... near the end of the Passion Season, this is a dangerous moment as it is potentially a sleeping on stage moment...

Von den Stricken meiner Sünden
Mich zu entbinden,
Wird mein Heil gebunden.
Mich von allen Lasterbeulen
Völlig zu heilen,
Läßt er sich verwunden.

To untie me
from the knots of my sins,
my Savior is bound.
To completely heal me
of all blasphemous sores,
He allows Himself to be wounded.

Tempered Joy

In this Soprano Aria (" I will follow you likewise with joyful steps"), featuring the two flutes playing in unison. Here, I do find that there is the beginning of the mixed emotions. At a surface level, the flutes are playing a piece that is in G major, a key that evokes carefree joy, but they are not full of unbridled joy. The chromatic lines all highlight a sense of unease... All that fits with the idea of following, with joy, but with trepidation and duty as well.

Again, as a performer, I'm just listening and enjoying this part... but it is also my cue to start to concentrate, as the violins and violas will be soon required!

Ich folge dir gleichfalls mit freudigen Schritten
Und lasse dich nicht,
Mein Leben, mein Licht.
Befördre den Lauf,
Und höre nicht auf,
Selbst an mir zu ziehen, zu schieben, zu bitten.

I follow You likewise with happy steps
and do not leave You,
my Life, my Light.
Pursue your journey,
and don't stop,
continue to draw me on, to push me, to urge me.

Desolation and isolation

This is one of my favourite arias to play on the violin, there are long stretches of dissonances which take forever to resolve. These moments just pull painfully, as the heart wants them to resolve into a consonant sound, but they are just held just a little bit longer by Bach. It's also fun as it is a bit of a place for the violins (well... mostly the first violins...) to stretch their playing chops a bit as welll... So, it is a place that I enjoy quite a bit!

Ach, mein Sinn,
Wo willt du endlich hin,
Wo soll ich mich erquicken?
Bleib ich hier,
Oder wünsch ich mir
Berg und Hügel auf den Rücken?
Bei der Welt ist gar kein Rat,
Und im Herzen
Stehn die Schmerzen
Meiner Missetat,
Weil der Knecht den Herrn verleugnet hat.

Alas, my conscience,
where will you flee at last,
where shall I find refreshment?
Should I stay here,
or do I desire
mountain and hill at my back?
In all the world there is no counsel,
and in my heart
remains the pain
of my misdeed,
since the servant has denied the Lord.

Stillness and Contemplation

This is for me one of the most magical parts of the story. It is a moment of the most beautiful stillness and contemplation, featuring the lute/theorbo and the two Viola dámore. Well, it is a bit of a selfish moment as well... as I'm normally one of the soloist d'amores that is playing... so it is a moment for me to bask a bit in the spotlight. That aside, the stillness and the calmness of this movement in the stormy narrative is really something that is hard to forget.

Betrachte, meine Seel, mit ängstlichem Vergnügen,
Mit bittrer Lust und halb beklemmtem Herzen
Dein höchstes Gut in Jesu Schmerzen,
Wie dir auf Dornen, so ihn stechen,
Die Himmelsschlüsselblumen blühn!
Du kannst viel süße Frucht von seiner Wermut brechen
Drum sieh ohn Unterlass auf ihn!

Contemplate, my soul, with anxious pleasure,
with bitter joy and half-constricted heart,
your highest Good in Jesus' suffering,
how for you, out of the thorns that pierce Him,
the tiny 'keys of Heaven' bloom!
You can pluck much sweet fruit
from his wormwood;
therefore gaze without pause upon Him!

The Sweet Pain

Okay... this is now the spot where I earn my fee! It's an Aria that features the two Solo dámore and the Viola da Gamba and it is a piece that I play each year in the Passion season. I love this solo so much, it is managably tricky! As in, you need to concentrate, but it is rewarding if you pull it off! After, everyone remembers the two weird looking giant violins!

For the setting of the narrative, it is after Jesus has been whipped. In true Baroque style, there is this beautiful admiration of the blood and wounds of the Saviour. Something that is a little strange in a modern setting, but it is this sweet adulation of pain....

Erwäge, wie sein blutgefärbter Rücken
In allen Stücken
Dem Himmel gleiche geht,
Daran, nachdem die Wasserwogen
Von unsrer Sündflut sich verzogen,
Der allerschönste Regenbogen
Als Gottes Gnadenzeichen steht!

Consider, how His blood-stained back
in every aspect
is like Heaven,
in which, after the watery deluge
was released upon our flood of sins,
the most beautiful rainbow
as God's sign of grace was placed!

Fear and Trepidation

Again, this a moment for the violins to stretch their legs (fingers...)... it is really another place where we can start digging into our instruments and take centre stage again (well... apart from that crooner at the front...). The sense of breathlessness in the writing serves to highlight the stage of the story... where Jesus is being put on the Cross, and the crowds are being told to rush to see the event.. and the salvation.

Eilt, ihr angefochtnen Seelen,
Geht aus euren Marterhöhlen,
Eilt -- Wohin? -- nach Golgatha!
Nehmet an des Glaubens Flügel,
Flieht -- Wohin? -- zum Kreuzeshügel,
Eure Wohlfahrt blüht allda!

Hurry, you tempted souls,
come out of your caves of torment,
hurry - where? - to Golgatha!
Take up the wings of faith,
fly - where? -- to the Hill of the Cross,
Your salvation blooms there!

The Depths of Despair

This is THE moment of the Passion Story. Christ is on the Cross, and passes away. The emotional tension on stage is palpable, there is a concentrated focus on the Gamba soloist and the alto. It is the end of everything, the point of no return... the ultimate despair and loss.

On stage, this is part of the series of arias that come close to bringing me to tears. Up to now, the action as been fast paced and moving along at a clip... now we stop, and realise that everything has happened before, brings us to a terrible moment. It is a time for reflection.....

Es ist vollbracht!
O Trost vor die gekränkten Seelen!
Die Trauernacht
Läßt nun die letzte Stunde zählen.
Der Held aus Juda siegt mit Macht
Und schließt den Kampf.
Es ist vollbracht!

It is finished!
O comfort for the ailing soul!
The night of sorrow
now measures out its last hour.
The hero out of Judah conquers with might
and concludes the battle.
It is finished!

Hope

In what I still consider to be part of the genius of Bach... in each of his Passions, he follows the moment of absolute despair with a ray of hope. These are arias that in any other context would be almost joyful in style... but because of their placement in the Passions setting... they represent hope, but somehow still feeling empty and drained. A light to bring you from the darkness. Although the violins have a very simple part, it is quite hard to play this... the heart is crying, a deep breath needs to be taken to calm the emotions. After all, we are the crafters of the emotions, not the ones who should be indulging too deeply!

Mein teurer Heiland, laß dich fragen,
Da du nunmehr ans Kreuz geschlagen
Und selbst gesagt: Es ist vollbracht,
Bin ich vom Sterben frei gemacht?
Kann ich durch deine Pein und Sterben
Das Himmelreich ererben?
Ist aller Welt Erlösung da?
Du kannst vor Schmerzen zwar nichts sagen;
Doch neigest du das Haupt
Und sprichst stillschweigend: ja.

My precious Savior, let me ask,
Now that you have been nailed to the Cross
and have said yourself: It is finished,
Am I made free from death?
Can I, through your pain and death
inherit the kingdom of heaven?
Has the redemption of the whole world arrived?
You cannot say a single thing out of pain;
yet you bow Your head
and say silently: yes.

The Sorrow

For me, this is the moment... if I don't shed a tear here, I will have forgotten what it is to be a musician. It is a place that brings memories rushing back of all the losses and passing of people that we held (and still hold dear). Near the end of the piece, after all the drama from before... it is all too easy to be susceptible to this powerful emotion. I'm only thankful that I don't have to play... I'm not sure I could do it.

The writing of the aria is such, that Continuo (the bass line) support goes missing at critical points. The same as when you have a loss in your life... the support is suddenly and painfully noticeably gone.

Zerfleiße, mein Herze, in Fluten der Zähren
Dem Höchsten zu Ehren!
Erzähle der Welt und dem Himmel die Not:
Dein Jesus ist tot!

Dissolve, my heart, in floods of tears
to honor the Highest!
Tell the world and heaven the anguish:
Your Jesus is dead!

The Eternal Rest

It is the farewell... the pain and joy and all the other emotions of the previous couple of hours. It is all finished, and it is time to bid the beloved a deserved eternal rest. There is no more suffering, it all is past... Even still, there is a moment of hope and light... but then everything returns to rest and stillness.

Ruht wohl, ihr heiligen Gebeine,
Die ich nun weiter nicht beweine,
Ruht wohl und bringt auch mich zur Ruh!
Das Grab, so euch bestimmet ist
Und ferner keine Not umschließt,
Macht mir den Himmel auf und schließt die
Hölle zu.

Rest well, you blessed limbs,
now I will no longer mourn you,
rest well and bring me also to peace!
The grave that is allotted to you
and encloses no further suffering,
opens heaven for me and closes off Hell.

Although it feels like the end... Bach does finish it with a small chorale which brings some hope back into the picture. I would have preferred to finish at the Eternal Rest... but there is something to be said for finishing with a little ray of light!