Passion According to St. John, BWV.245
The Passio secundum Joannem or St John Passion (German: Johannes-Passion), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the earliest of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as director of church music in Leipzig and was first performed on 7 April 1724, at Good Friday Vespers at the St. Nicholas Church.
The structure of the work falls in two halves, intended to flank a sermon. The anonymous libretto draws on existing works (notably by Barthold Heinrich Brockes) and is compiled from recitatives and choruses narrating the Passion of Christ as told in the Gospel of John, ariosos and arias reflecting on the action, and chorales using hymn tunes and texts familiar to a congregation of Bach's contemporaries. Compared with the St Matthew Passion, the St John Passion has been described as more extravagant, with an expressive immediacy, at times more unbridled and less "finished".
Movements
- Part I. No. 1. Chorus "Sire, Lord and Master""
- Part I. No. 10. Recitative "Now that same disciple" (Evangelist, Mary, Peter, Jesus, Servent)
- Part I. No. 11. Chorus "Ah, who would dare to smite Thee?" (Evangelist)
- Part I. No. 2. Recitative "Jesus went with His disciples" (Evangelist, Jesus)
- Part I. No. 3. Chorus "O generous love!"
- Part I. No. 4. Recitative "So that the word might be fulfilled" (Evangelist, Jesus)
- Part I. No. 5. Chorus "Thy will be done, o God of love!"
- Part I. No. 6. Recitative "The band then, together with the captain" (Evangelist)
- Part I. No. 9. Aria (Soprano) "I'll follow Thee also"
Recommended recordings
- Monteverdi Choir & English Baroque Soloists · John Eliot Gardiner YouTubeSpotify (subscription)
- Munich Bach Choir & Orchestra · Karl Richter YouTubeSpotify (subscription)