Passions and Oratorios - an introduction
The Passion is the Biblical narrative of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, as told in the Gospels of SS Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
In the Catholic tradition, settings of the story were sung to plainchant, or to plainchant alternating with choral settings. After the Reformation in Germany , these unaccompanied settings were taken into the Lutheran liturgy, mainly in German translations. Between the middle of the 16 th and 17 th centuries, through-composed settings began to appear, and in 1641 a version by Thomas Selle was performed which included instruments and added non-biblical texts which reflected on the story or served other devotional purposes.
The next development was the inclusion of quasi-operatic features such as recitative (a technique of pushing forward the story with narrative passages in free rhythm) and da capo arias in which singers (often impersonating characters from the story) might reflect on the events using the three-part structure of an aria to express an idea, develop it, and then recap with variations. This was the foundation of the oratorio Passion; Bach performed Reinhard Keiser's oratorio Passion based on St Mark's gospel, in Weimar in about 1713, adding sections of his own.
Bach was occupied with Passion settings from the start of his appointment at Leipzig until the end of his life. The St John and St Matthew are the 'great' Passions, undergoing several revisions between 1724 and 1749. In addition to the St Mark version mentioned above, Bach added his own music to an anonymous St Luke Passion and assembled a St Mark Passion using material from the Trauer Ode and other cantatas. Crucial to the composition of the Passions is the role of the 'Evangelist' or narrator.
Oratorios are musical works based on sacred texts; although they may contain dramatic elements, they are not primarily intended for performance in theatres or in the context of church liturgy. Oratorio in Germany in the 18 th century paralleled the development of opera; both genres drew on the stylistic models of Italy , with recitatives and arias being interspersed, in the German manner, with chorales and choruses. Oratorios tended to be performed around major Feasts in the church year;
Bach's oratorios differ from the mainstream in a number of important respects: first, they were intended for liturgical performance, taking the place of regular cantatas. And second, unlike a through-composed oratorio such as Handel's Messiah, they are composed of assemblages of material incorporating stylistic elements of cantatas and Passions. The Christmas Oratorio is made up of six distinct cantatas on a linked theme; as with the Ascension Oratorio, the biblical story is assigned to a narrator (the 'Evangelist'), and the rest of the music, set to poetic texts, comprises arias, choruses, recitatives and chorales. The Easter Oratorio dispenses with biblical texts and chorales and has its own libretto.
© GRAEME KAY/BBC
