Bach, who has never been an ancient man and has never come after, "The Passion of Matthew"
The music world recognizes Bach's (1685-1750) Passion of Matthew (hereinafter referred to as "Matthew Passion") as the greatest masterpiece of all the composer's creations and the most representative liturgical music in Lutheran Protestantism. For today's Chinese people, it is necessary to remind that this "work" now regarded as "art" was originally a liturgy for good Friday (Friday before Easter) - Bach's music is a "practical" soundtrack of the liturgy, although highly artistic, its direct purpose is not to appreciate, but to serve the actual liturgical function. Worship requires music, designed to allow congregations and believers to identify with religion in music and to promote doctrine through music. However, great music eventually transcended the practical function of worship: for example, Bach's Passion of Matthew, which is more often seen in concerts (as well as in audio and video recordings such as records and videos) in the modern era, rather than just Christian worship – even though the Passion is now often performed in churches, its nature is often concert appreciation rather than true religious worship.
However, appreciating and understanding religious vocal works such as Bach's Passion of Matthew, knowing and imagining its original liturgical environment and musical context is still necessary – even fundamental. The Bible's New Testament contains four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which describe the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus from different angles. Ever since Martin Luther (1483-1546) translated the Bible from Latin into German and placed music at the center of Protestant liturgy, a special tradition of "crucifixion oratorio" has developed in protestant germany—it centers on the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Gospels, with narrative, contemplation, and prayer in music in dramatic ways, allowing believers to feel the symbolism of The Crucifixion of Jesus during worship.
By Bach in the first half of the 18th century, this "Passion" used all the vocal and instrumental means of the time to strengthen the religious meaning to be expressed, and reached the peak of unprecedented and unprecedented in terms of comprehensiveness, profundity and artistry. According to Kao, Bach composed the music of worship for all four Gospel narratives of the Passion of jesus, but only two crucifixions, "Matthew" and "John", are completely preserved today, which are monuments to religious sacred music.
Bach spent the second half of his life in Leipzig, Germany (1723-1750), where he served as music director for the church school of St. Thomas and was responsible for the musical liturgy of the city's four main Lutheran churches (Thomas, Nicholas, Peter, Matthew). On Friday, April 11, 1727, Bach performed his new Passion of Matthew at Thomas Church, the longest-, largest, musically most complex and richest in history, and the largest of all Bach's compositions—until Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungen, the scale and scale of this magnificent masterpiece has not been surpassed. It is divided into two parts, a total of 68 parts, three hours long, and requires three choirs (two mixed choirs, one boys' choir), two bands (corresponding to their respective choirs) and organ and other instruments, as well as a group of high-level soloists. During Bach's lifetime, the Passion song had few opportunities to be staged; and behind Bach, people almost forgot about its existence. As Bach's revival began in the early 19th century, many of Bach's long-obliterated works gradually reappeared—one of the most famous events was the 20-year-old Mendelssohn's re-rehearsal of The Passion of Matthew in 1829, which brought the masterpiece, which had been silent for more than eighty years, to "resurrection".
Composer - J.S. Bach [Johann Sebastian Bach]
Bach's script of Matthew is based primarily on Luther's translation of the Bible in Chapters 26 and 27 of Matthew's Gospel, telling the story of how Jesus was betrayed by Judah, had his last supper with his disciples, was arrested and tried unjustly, crucified and finally buried—a story that audiences with a little religious knowledge know a thing or two about. On this basis, Bach's poet friend, Christian friedrich henrici (pen name picander), who was then the post and tax collector of Leipzig, added a number of poems of a contemplative or reflective nature, which not only complemented the crucifixion narrative, but also deepened the meaning of this narrative; at the same time, Bach also selected a number of chorale that were very familiar to the Protestant church at that time, with the intention of involving the congregation in the worship. And interact personally with Bible stories. Bach's extraordinary genius lies in his wholehearted acceptance of this pre-existing, unchangeable framework of biblical stories, and to excavate and explore the profound meaning and meaning of the crucifixion process of Jesus through rich, full musical brushstrokes. This was originally a religious story, but it pointed directly to the human heart; it was originally a religious sermon, but in the end it transcended religion and became a projection and celebration of the ideal of human nature with universal effect.
Listeners may wish to note that the overall arrangement of Matthew Passion is a complex structure of multidimensional interaction. The technique is borrowed from the opera, but the overall effect is completely different from the opera. An uncomplicated and well-known biblical story unfolds in the middle of the music, with a narrative rhythm deliberately broken up and rearranged—the listener must always follow the lyrics, not only to understand the plot, but also to appreciate the painstaking solitude of Bach's music. The outermost narrative is all played by the evangelist (tenor), equivalent to an indirect "storyteller", the lyrics are taken directly from the Biblical Gospels, with free narrative tones - Bach's narrative tone is written with extreme care, and its expression portrayal is far more profound and musically rich than that of the Baroque opera of the same era, and is the highest model for the German narrative tone of the Baroque period. Telling stories and connecting plots through the mouths of evangelists is a unique technique of "Passion", which has a certain "separation" in drama, and the effect is extremely special.
The second level is the characters in the story, and the lyrics are all from the Biblical Gospels. Among them, individual characters include Jesus (bass), disciple Peter (bass), traitor Judas (bass), Roman governor Pilate (bass), Pilate's wife (soprano), etc., all of which are "quasi-performance" characters, and their words directly correspond to the narration of the preacher. Bach specially arranged a long accompaniment of pure strings for Jesus' melodic narration— the "halo" equivalent of music (in the Western painting tradition, there is always a halo above the head in the portrait of Jesus) to portray Jesus' deep, calm and righteous character. The disciples, priests, and masses of the group characters, acting as two mixed choirs (sometimes separated, sometimes cooperatively), are directly involved in the progression of the plot, and the choral writing here is extremely variable, contrasted, and rendered, and its agility, exuberance, and dramatic power are unforgettable—such as Pilate's famous ominous response to the eight-voice choir when he asked the crowd to release Jesus or the criminal Barabas, and the subsequent clamor of "crucifying him" (45th).
At all the important story points, Bach pauses the plot brakes in order to insert the musical soundtrack of Henrich's poems—the third most crucial aspect and the center of gravity of the entire Passion. From a formal point of view, this is actually the "aria" part that everyone is very familiar with in the opera, where the audience no longer follows the plot, but stops to reflect on the meaning of the plot, listens to the inner activities of the characters, and feels the beauty and expression of the music - this is similar to the "close-up" in the movie, aiming to highlight, expand and strengthen. It is worth mentioning that Bach's "lens" here is not focused on the characters in the Bible themselves - the opening mouth is not singing the "play people" with names and surnames, but seems to be some unknown representative of the audience: he (she) is "you and me", which is ourselves and points to everyone. All the warmth, love, and purity of human sorrow, mercy, compassion, and divinity are revealed and displayed through Bach's chant. Bach's wonderful melodic qualities – rugged and tortuous lines, deep and rich expressions – are emphasized by the supporting instruments, while the chorus sometimes forms dialogue and communication with soloists, further adding to the richness of the layers.
Another important element that spreads throughout the song— the hymns— constitutes a relatively independent fourth dimension. Cultivated and nurtured by Martin Luther himself, hymns have always been a central ingredient in Lutheran Protestant music, with many tunes passed down from generation to generation. Its typical texture is performed in a four-voice column harmony with neat and square sentences, and because it is simple and easy to learn, it allows the congregation to participate in the chanting during the worship. Bach wisely selected more than a dozen relevant and excellent hymns to embed in the biblical narrative of Matthew's Passion (one of which was originally titled "Wounded and Bleeding Head" repeated many times), allowing the congregation and believers to agree with the experience of Jesus' crucifixion through familiar hymns, while also responding to Jesus' deeds from a simple civilian perspective. The general character of the hymn appears introspective, sad and relaxed, and it represents a more objective, detached and collective level of consciousness, which complements and contrasts with the subjective, agitated and individual nature of the "aria".
The four interconnected and mutually supportive musical-dramatic dimensions unfold in parallel in this Passion, forming a complex and multidimensional narrative-action-introspection-prayer interaction. However, Bach seems to be dissatisfied with this already highly complex and full artistic design, and he lays a solid foundation for the architecture of The Passion of Matthew with three large choral sections, and securely integrates all elements into a huge frame structure: the beginning chorus "Come, Daughters, Help Me Mourn Together", which is justly regarded as Bach's most grand and epic landmark stroke, and the two choirs and two groups of bands are staggered in echoing and answering. Depicting the sorrow of Christ Jesus carrying the cross and the slightly frightened lament of the crowd, while a natural boy sings in unison (the hymn "O, the Holy Lamb of God was Slaughtered on the Cross") – the complex structure of the whole song and the complex mood expressed are far more magnificent, magnificent and imposing than the pen and ink can describe, and are breathtaking.
The chorus "Man, How Deep Your Sins Are You Lamenting" (29th cent) at the end of the first part is the companion piece to the above-mentioned opening chorus, in the dense band accompaniment weave, the three choirs take turns to sing the tune of the praise, you chase me, a wave is higher than a wave, repentance and hope, the boy's angelic pure singing leads the adult chorus to the yearning for redemption. The lullaby at the end of the song, "Let's Sit Down and Cry for You" (part 68), features a sincere and warm melody and a simple and simple weave, which is both a deep farewell to Jesus and a successful conclusion to the entire work (liturgy) – this religious epic drama with a sense of compassion and contemplation slowly comes to an end.
A simple biblical story, artistically crafted in this way, takes on a highly complex and highly symbolic face—the viewer needs to be guided by Bach to understand the different aspects of narrative and reflection, and to make the appropriate switch between modes of acceptance and understanding. This may not be difficult for the 18th-century congregation of believers who are familiar with biblical stories, but for the "pagan" audience in modern society, we should make an intellectual and emotional effort to meet the challenges posed by this great work. Since Mendelssohn revived Bach's Passion for Matthew, the work has remained in the world's largest vocal collection. The significance and value of this masterpiece finally arriving in China is obvious: it shows that true art transcends religion, time, and borders, because the ultimate direction of art is people—individual people, universal people.