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German text (Matthäuspassion)
What is a Passion? What is St. Matthew's Passion?
Joshua Kosman in Jesus' Life, in Music:
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For centuries before movies were invented, the passion story was told and retold in dramatic and musical settings. The format of the musical passion setting evolved over time, as composers sought to make it ever more elaborate, more philosophically and theologically reflective and more responsive to contemporary styles. But the narrative kernel, based in one or more of the Gospel stories, remained constant.
Modern listeners have a skewed sense of that tradition, for two perfectly good reasons....
The more important reason, though, is Bach. Ever since 1829, when the young Mendelssohn and some of his conservatory buddies reintroduced Bach's little-known St. Matthew Passion to the broader musical world, that score and its companion, the St. John Passion, have stood as the consummate musical depictions of Jesus' last days.
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For most listeners, of course, Bach's artistic genius can deflect concerns about such passages, even if one's heart never feels quite at ease with them. But artistry on that scale is hard to come by.
