As we begin Passiontide, it is fitting to suggest some music to fit the season, here the two settings of the ‘Passion’ put to music by Johann Sebastian Bach. According to sources, Bach wrote five ‘Passions’, orchestral chorales based on the final days in the life of Christ, but only two have come down to us: Saint John’s and Saint Matthew’s, both profound, musically rich and complex, whose depths can never really be fully plumbed, but always appreciated. They are two of my favorite works during this Lententide, but the hope embedded in this music may provide peace and serenity your souls, that beauty transcends all time, all epochs, all crises and calamities.
The first composed is set to the words of the Gospel of Saint John, which premiered on this April 7th, 1724, at Good Friday Vespers.
His second Passion chorale is based on the text of Saint Matthew, first performed three years hence, on April 11, 1727, a longer and more complex musical work. But both pieces savour the genius of Bach, and we may glory therein, as they, as Bach always intended, give glory to God.