Johann Sebastian Bach’s St John Passion (BWV 245): A Theological Commentary

The Very Revd Dr Andreas Loewe is Dean of Melbourne and a Fellow and Lecturer in Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. A historian and theologian, his research centres on the European Early Modern and pre-Enlightenment periods, with an emphasis on the use of language, meta-language and other media to communicate ideas. Recent research includes publications on Lutheran educational drama, Luther’s music theory, and Lutheran music-making. Loewe has lectured extensively and published on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, and has curated both concert and liturgical performances of Bach’s major works, for which he provided both scholarly introductions and specially commissioned sermons.

• List of Tables and IllustrationsList of AbbreviationsPreface N. T. WrightAcknowledgementsIntroductionFrom the ‘Fifth Evangelist’ to the Birth of the Neue BachausgabeTheological Bach Research: Back to the SourcesConsidering Anti-Judaism in Bach’s MusicBach and Theology Re-assessedPurpose and Scope of this StudyPart 1: Composer and WorkLearning the Craft of a Church Musician1.1. Bach’s Schooling1.2. Singer, Instrumentalist, Church Musician1.3. ‘Singing preaching and praising of God’‘It pleased God that I should be called’ – Bach’s Office and Craft2.1. The Purpose of Church Music2.2. ‘Gnaden-Gegenwart’: God’s Presence in Sacred Music2.3. Music for the Glory of GodProclaiming Scripture through Music – The Development of Bach’s Cantatas3.1. Musical and Textual Models for Bach’s Early Cantatas3.2. The ‘Modern Cantata’3.3. From Köthen to Leipzig: from Capellmeister to Lutheran Cantor3.4. The Leipzig Cantatas: Words and Music that Amplify Scripture3.5. Composing, Rehearsing and Performing the CantataBach’s St John Passion4.1. The Development of the Lutheran Responsorial Passion4.2. The Liturgical and Homiletic Context of Bach’s St John Passion4.3. The Libretto of Bach’s St John Passion4.3.1. Textual Elements of the St John Passion: Biblical Text4.3.2. Textual Elements: Madrigalic Texts4.3.3. Textual Elements: Chorales4.4. The Purpose and Message of Bach’s St John PassionPart 2: CommentaryStudy Translation Katherine FirthCommentaries and Sermon Collections2.1. Abraham Calov’s ‘Great German Bible’ (1682)2.2. Johannes Olearius’ Haupt Schlüßel (1681)2.3. Sermon Collections: Martin Luther (1528-29)Commentary1. Prima Parte – First Part of the PassionExordium – PrologueHortus – Jesus in the Garden of GethsemanePontifices – Jesus Before the Chief Priests2. Parte Secunda: Nach der Predigt – Second Part of the Passion: Following the SermonPilatus – Jesus Before PilateCrux – Jesus Dies on the CrossSepulchrum – Jesus is Laid in the TombBibliographyIndexTABLES1: Libretti published in Salomo Franck’s Evangelisches Andachts-Opffer, Geist und Weltlicher Poesien Zweyter Teil and Evangelische Sonn- und Festtages-Andachten (1716)2: Libretti published in Ziegler’s Versuch in gebundener Schreib-Art (1728)3: Libretti published in Picander’s Ernst-Schertzhaffte und Satyrische Gedichte4: Libretto of Bach’s St John Passion as first performed in 1724 (I)5: Libretto of Bach’s St John Passion as performed in 1725 (II)6: Known and Unknown sources of Free Poetry in Bach’s St John Passion7: Consolation and Commitment in Arias and Ariosos of Bach’s St John Passion8: Interior Questions and Answers in the Chorus Arias of Bach’s St John Passion9: Actus Chorales in Bach’s St John Passion10: Petitions from Stockmann’s Passion Chorale in Bach’s St John PassionILLUSTRATIONS1. Dedication of Solomon’s Temple: Frontispiece of the 1673 Eisenachisches Gesangbuch, Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, TL 45.2. Exterior and Interior of St Thomas’ Church Leipzig: Frontispiece of the 1710 Leipziger Kirchen-Staat, Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen, 8 H E RIT I, 11920.3. Picander’s Texts for the Passion-Music according to the Evangelist Matthew set to music by Bach in the St Matthew Passion, 1727, from the 1748 Ernst-Scherzhafte und Satyrische Gedichte, p. 471, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, P.O. germ. 600 e/2.4. Frontispiece of Bach’s copy of Calov’s annotated New Testament from the Great German Bible, Concordia Theological Seminary, St Louis, Missouri.5. Mors: Olearius’ commentary on John’s account of the death of Jesus, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München, 2 Exeg. 650 e-5. 6. Autograph Score, p. 11: Different Cross-motifs (1-3, 2-4 and 1-4, 2-3) on ‘Jesum von Nazareth’, Bach Digital Project.7. Autograph Score, p. 12: Cross-motifs (1-4, 2-3) on ‘Jesum von Nazareth’, Bach Digital Project.8. Autograph Score, p. 17: Cross-motif (1-4, 2-3) on ‘Jesu nach und’, Bach Digital Project.9. Intrade Herrn Sebastian Knüpfers, Kritischer Bericht.10. Autograph Score, p. 34: Answers to Questions, though not in Bach’s hand, Bach Digital Project.11. Johann Saubert, DYODEKAS emblematum sacrorum (1625): The alto voice as an expression of the Holy Spirit, Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon, SJ CS 320/5.