Passion (music)
In
Passion settings developed from medieval intoned readings of the Gospel texts relating Christ's Passion, to which later polyphonic settings were added. Passion Plays, another tradition that originated in the Middle Ages, could be provided with music such as hymns, contributing to Passion as a genre in music.
While Passion music in
Later musical settings of the Passion of Christ, such as the Jesus Christ Superstar Rock opera, or Arvo Pärt's Passio refer to these earlier Christian traditions to varying degrees.
History
The reading of the Passion from one of the Gospels during
The passion began to be intoned (rather than just spoken) in the Middle Ages, at least as early at the 8th century. 9th-century manuscripts have "litterae significativae" indicating interpretive chant, and later manuscript begin to specify exact notes to be sung. By the 13th century different singers were used for different characters in the narrative, a practice which became fairly universal by the 15th century, when
In the later 15th century a number of new styles began to emerge:
- 'Responsorial Passions in which the narration is chanted but the turba parts and sometimes Christ's words are set polyphonically.
- Through-composed Passions, also called motet Passions, in which all text is set polyphonically. The earliest extant example of this type is sometimes attributed to Jacob Obrecht .
- Summa Passionis settings, drawing on all four Gospels. These were never incorporated into the liturgy of the church use but circulated widely nonetheless. The Seven Last Words (a text later set by Haydn and Théodore Dubois) are included in this category.
Roman Catholic music
In the 16th century many settings, chiefly of the responsorial type, were written by
In Roman Catholicism settings of (parts of) the Tenebrae service however became the leading format for music to commemorate Christ's Passion and death during Holy Week, with for example Leçons de ténèbres, Tenebrae responsories, and settings of the Miserere psalm. Notable examples of such music, like Gesualdo's Tenebrae Responsoria, are sometimes characterized as "a Passion in all but name".[2]
A later development of the Catholic passion was the reflective passion-oratorio such as
and many other composers between 1730 and 1812.Latin passions continued in parallel with the style of Metastasio, often set by minor composers such as little known
Protestant music
Thomas Strutz wrote a passion (1664) with arias for Jesus himself, pointing to the standard oratorio tradition of Schütz and Carissimi. The practice of using recitative for the Evangelist (rather than plainsong) was a development of court composers in northern Germany, such as Johann Meder and Schütz, and only crept into church compositions at the end of the 17th century. The recitative was used for dramatic expression.[3]
In the 17th century came the development of “oratorio” passions which led to J.S. Bach’s passions, accompanied by instruments, with interpolated instrumental interludes (often called "sinfonias" or "sonatas") or with interpolated texts (then called “madrigal” movements) such as other Scripture passages, Latin motets, chorale arias, and more. Such settings were created by Bartholomäus Gesius and Heinrich Schütz.
The best known Protestant musical settings of the Passion are by Johann Sebastian Bach, who, according to his obituary, wrote five Passions in his lifetime. Two have survived to the present day: one based on the Gospel of John (the St John Passion), the other on the Gospel of Matthew (the St Matthew Passion). Additionally, a libretto for the St Mark Passion survives. Although Bach's settings are now among the most popular Passions today, they were rarely performed during his lifetime.
The Passion continued to be very popular in Protestant Germany in the 18th century, with Bach's second son
Romantic and Modern music
In the 19th century, Passion settings were less popular. Some examples of such works are the Oratorio
In 2000 Helmuth Rilling and the Internationale Bachakademie commissioned four modern composers to compose passions on the four Gospels; Matthew was allocated to Tan Dun - Water Passion After St Matthew, Mark to Osvaldo Golijov - La Pasión Según San Marcos, Luke to Wolfgang Rihm - Deus Passus, and John to Sofia Gubaidulina - St John Passion (Страсти по Иоанну).
Examples
A relative of the musical Passion is the custom of setting the text of Stabat Mater to music.[citation needed]
English
In the English repertoire, the two classics are The Crucifixion (1887) by Sir John Stainer and Olivet to Calvary (1904) by John Henry Maunder. Other works include Sir Arthur Somervell's The Passion of Christ (1914), Charles Wood's St Mark Passion (1921) and Eric Thiman's The Last Supper (1930).
More recent examples include James MacMillan's Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993), the Passion According to St. Matthew (1997), by Mark Alburger, The Passion According to the Four Evangelists by Scott King, and The Passion and Resurrection According To St. Mark (2015/2017) by Christian Asplund.
German
German Passion cantatas include Der Tod Jesu (1755), with text by Karl Wilhelm Ramler and music by Georg Philipp Telemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and by Carl Heinrich Graun, and the Passion Cantatas Die letzten Leiden des Erlösers (1770), with text by various people and music by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (taken largely from his St Matthew Passion of 1769) and Gottfried August Homilius's cantata Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld HoWV 12 (1775). A later example is Das Sühnopfer des neuen Bundes by Carl Loewe (1847). In Danish there are also passion cantatas with music by the Bach critic Johann Adolf Scheibe to the text, Vor Harpe er bleven til Sorrig by Johannes Ewald, and the Sørge-Cantata ved Christi Grav Herrens Salvede, som var vor Næses Aand by the same librettist and composer.
Latin
Stanzas of the medieval hymn Salve mundi salutare
A notable work in Latin is Arvo Pärt's Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem (The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to John) of 1982.
Other
- St. Luke Passion(1966) of Penderecki
- Passion Cantata "Vor Harpe er bleven til Sorrig" with text by Johannes Ewald and music by the Bach critic Johann Adolf Scheibe,
- Sørge-Cantata ved Christi Grav "Herrens Salvede, som var vor Næstes Aand" by the same librettist and composer.
Notes
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ Alex Ross. "Gesualdo: 'The Prince of Darkness'" in The New Yorker. December 19 and 26, 2011.
- ^ a b Duff, Robert."The Baroque Oratorio Passion." D.M.A. University of Southern California, 2000, 21-92.
- ^ Text of Salve Mundi Salutare http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13408a.htm