PERFORMANCE: Johann Sebastian Bach, church organist, teacher, long serving Kantor of St Thomas's choir school in Leipzig, musical genius, good Lutheran and one of the greatest artists of all time, never had an easy life. St John Passion is among Bach's most glorious achievements, says Eileen Battersby
For all the grace, formal beauty and exactness of his art, Bach's true majesty and enduring appeal lies in the humanity and emotion expressed in his music and also the stroppy individuality that helped create it. The spirit of rebellion was an essential part of his character and he did not enjoy a good relationship with authority.
It is difficult for us in this age of indulged superstars to comprehend the depths of Bach's frustrations. Orphaned at 11 and denied the privilege of university, he continued to face poverty as an adult, as well as the early death of his first loved wife and those of several of his many children in an age when infant mortality was routine.
Music was his job, not just a release and even in the very creation of his work he had to contend with constraints. On being appointed Kantor of St Thomas's, he had no choice but to listen as the Leipzig town council, which regarded the newcomer as an employee not a genius, advised that he should only "produce such compositions as are not theatrical in nature". The council also wanted to ensure Bach knew that his music was intended for divine service and any operatic influence would be unwelcome.
About 10 months after taking up the Leipzig post, Bach first performed his St John Passion. It was Good Friday, 1724, the venue St Nicholas's Church. No contemporary reports survive of the initial reaction, but it is significant that Bach continued to edit and alter the piece - there are four versions.
Next Tuesday night at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Christ Church Baroque, under Mark Duley, with the choir of Christ Church Cathedral and soloists Andrew Carwood as the Evangelist, Robin Tritschler and Simon Baker, will sing the original 1724 version in German. From the glories of the opening chorale to the closing plea, "Christ, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace", a live church performance of this subtle masterpiece is an experience not to be missed.
Often wrongly dismissed as inferior to the madrigalesque splendours and lyrical contemplations of St Matthew Passion (1727), a huge work scored for double choir and double orchestra, St John Passion is more intimate, even personal. It is powerfully dramatic through the interventionalist tone of the evangelist's recitatives and the choruses of the turbae (the people, the high priests etc) without being either truly operatic or theatrical.
It centres on Pilate's dilemma and highlights the cruelty of the crowd. The drama lies in Bach's treatment of the Passion in musical forms. Unlike opera, in which the events largely occur on stage and narrative tends to be interpreting rather than describing the action, the Passion depends on the evangelist as an expressive narrator. The story of Christ's sufferings, from betrayal and denial, to crucifixion, death and burial are represented, not enacted.
Considering the constraints Bach worked under, the magnificence of his Passions are all the more to be wondered at.
Only two, the St John and the St Matthew, of the possible five (including the incomplete St Mark) survive. They stand today, more than 250 years after his death, among the supreme achievements of Western art.
But there is far more to it than that. Bach's Passions represent the high point of a great German musical tradition extending back to the Middle Ages when the story of the Crucifixion was told each Easter in unaccompanied plainsong settings.
These settings themselves are rooted in ancient religious practices, dating back as far as the 4th century when a priest would recite the Gospel story of Christ's Passion during Holy Week. By the 12th century, what was a religious ritual had become a performance involving three clergy, now singing instead of reciting; a tenor narrator, a bass Christ and alto crowd. The traditional setting form remained and over time became more sophisticated.
Exciting innovations were introduced during the 16th century when the plainchant narrative was regularly interspersed with polyphonic choruses. In some churches, the Latin text was translated into the vernacular. The congregation became involved through the introduction of chorales.
Passions were already moving on from simple narratives to complex dramas by the time of 17th century composer Heinrich Schütz. Composer of the first German opera, he intensified the drama of the settings. The devout may not have liked theatre in the church but dramatic elements had won their place. This was the tradition and form Bach was to inherit and - as the very different yet equally majestic St John Passion and St Matthew Passion confirm - master.
St John Passion will be performed in Christ Church Cathedral next on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Tickets €18 (concession €15) from Opus II. Tel (01) 6778571 or at the door.