Johann Sebastian Bach's St John Passion Genesis, Transmission, and Meaning

by Dürr, Alfred; Clayton, Alfred

• ISBN13: 9780198162407
• ISBN10: 0198162405
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book (published in German by Bärenreiter in 1988 and now available in English translation for the first time) is a comprehensive guide to the genesis, transmission, structure, meaning, and performance considerations of Bach's St John Passion . One of Bach's most fascinating works, its text demonstrates a profound understanding of St John's Gospel.

Author Biography

Alfred Durr is one of the principal editors of the Neue Bach Ausgabe in which he edited Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. He is the author of the standard work in German on Bach's cantatas. (An English translation of this book, by Richard D.P. Jones, is in progress.) He holds honorary doctorates of music at Baldwin-Wallace College, Ohio and at Oxford University.
Alfred Clayton (translator) has translated numerous books, including (for OUP) Paul Badura-Skoda: Interpreting Bach at the Keyboard.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Abbreviations	x
Genesis	1	(13)
Introduction. Did Bach compose a Passion before 1724?	1	(2)
Version I (1724)	3	(1)
Version II (1725)	4	(3)
Version III (c.1730)	7	(2)
Version IV (c.1749)	9	(1)
Score A	10	(4)
Transmission	14	(16)
The Lost Original Score X (1724?)	14	(1)
The Revised Score (source A, c.1739/1749)	15	(3)
The Original Parts	18	(12)
General Introduction	18	(2)
Set I	20	(1)
Set II	21	(3)
Set III	24	(1)
Set IV	25	(1)
Parts no longer extant	26	(4)
Meaning	30	(85)
Protestant Settings of the Passion	30	(2)
The Text of the St John Passion	32	(24)
The Depiction of the Passion in the Gospel according to St John	32	(5)
The Gospel Text	37	(2)
The Chorale Verses	39	(2)
The Free Poetry	41	(15)
Bach's Music	56	(39)
The Composition of the Biblical Narrative	57	(14)
The Chorale Movements	71	(3)
The Choruses	74	(5)
The Arias and Ariosos	79	(16)
Problems associated with the Overall Formal Design and the Different Versions	95	(12)
Performance Practice	107	(8)
General Remarks	107	(3)
The Execution of the Continuo	110	(1)
Specific Problems	111	(4)
Appendices: Problematical Points	115	(14)
I The Participation of Transverse Flutes in Version I	115	(4)
II The Reconstruction of Movement 33 in Version I	119	(1)
III The Chronology of the Passions Bach performed in Leipzig	120	(4)
IV The Problem of Symmetry in Bach's Work	124	(5)
Bibliography	129	(3)
Photographic Acknowledgements	132	(2)
Text of the St John Passion	134	(45)
Index	179