St Matthew Passion

Johann Sebastian Bach’s large-scale musical setting of the Passion story in the Gospel of Matthew, scored for soloists, double choir, and orchestra. It combines biblical narration with choruses, arias, and chorales.

Evangelist (Bach): The tenor narrator who sings the Gospel text in Bach’s Passions. The Evangelist carries Matthew’s narrative through the work’s recitatives.
Good Friday Vespers: A Christian evening service held on Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus. The Passion was composed for performance within Leipzig’s Good Friday liturgy.
Passion (Christianity): The suffering and death of Jesus Christ, especially the events leading to his crucifixion. The work belongs to the Christian tradition of narrating and meditating on these events.
Bach revival: The nineteenth-century renewal of public interest in Johann Sebastian Bach’s music. Felix Mendelssohn’s 1829 performance of the Passion helped bring Bach’s music back to prominence.
Recitative: A vocal style that follows speech rhythms to deliver text, often advancing a dramatic or narrative sequence. Recitative conveys the Gospel dialogue and narration between larger musical numbers.
Leipzig: A city in Saxony, Germany, with a long history as a center of music and publishing. Bach wrote and performed the work during his tenure as Leipzig’s Thomaskantor.
Lutheran chorale: A German hymn associated with Lutheran worship, typically composed for congregational singing. The inserted hymns draw on Lutheran worship and devotional practice.
Felix Mendelssohn: A German composer, pianist, and conductor whose music revived interest in Bach during the nineteenth century. He conducted the landmark 1829 Berlin performance that renewed attention to the work.
Chorale: A hymn tune associated with Lutheran congregational singing, often harmonized for multiple voices. Familiar chorales interrupt the narrative with communal reflection.
Thomaskirche: A Lutheran church in Leipzig that has served as the home church of the Thomanerchor. The work’s first performance took place at this church in 1727.

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