Johann Sebastian Bach: St. John Passion - Sheet music | Carus-Verlag

Johann Sebastian Bach St. John Passion

Version II BWV 245 (BWV3 245.2), 1725

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The St. John Passion ranks alongside the St. Matthew Passion, the Christmas Oratorio, the Magnificat and the B minor Mass as one of the great vocal works from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Leipzig years. In contrast to his other large-scale choral works, however, Bach never gave this work a definitive final form. Rather, for every performance he substantially revised the general concept of the piece and also changed numerous details. All previous editions of the St. John Passion have combined readings from various layers of sources and thus present the work in a form which was never heard during Bach’s lifetime. Consequently, the wish often expressed by conductors to perform an authentic version by Bach could not be easily achieved. The present critical edition of the St. John Passion fulfills this wish and for the first time makes available the complete music of the second version of the work as it was performed under Bach’s direction in 1725. Since a number of movements were replaced by others, including the opening chorus, this version differs most dramatically from the “standard” version which is well known today.

The recording for carus music, the choir choach and the Carus Choir Coach is based on the piano reduction of the traditional version (Carus 31.245/93). This differs from version II (score Carus 31.245/50, piano reduction Carus 31.245/53) and is not compatible for practicing.

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    Parte prima

    1. Choral

    O man, thy grievous sins bemoan,
    thy Saviour left his Father's throne
    and came to earth to end them.
    His mother was the virgin fair.
    He came the sins of man to bear;
    from judgement to defend them.
    He banished illness, grief and pain,
    dead he brought to life again,
    and when his time was ended,
    he shed his precious blood for us,
    in sacrifice miraculous,
    upon the cross suspended.

    2a. Recitativo

    Evangelista
    Jesus went with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, to which came Jesus and his disciples. Judas also he who was false knew the place full well, for Jesus resorted thither oft to be with his disciples. Judas therefore, who had gathered a body of men, whom the Chief Priests and the Pharisees had sent him, now cometh thither with lanterns, torches and with weapons. Therefore Jesus knowing all things, that were to come upon him,
    went straightway forth and said unto them:
    Jesus
    Whom seek ye here?
    Evangelista
    And they answered to him:

    2b. Chorus

    Jesus of Nazareth.

    2c. Recitativo

    Evangelista
    Jesus saith unto them:
    Jesus
    I am

    ...
Purchase
full score Carus 31.245/50, ISMN 979-0-007-05827-2 208 pages, paperback
available
95,00 € / copy
vocal score Carus 31.245/53, ISMN 979-0-007-08089-1 156 pages, paperback
available
16,50 € / copy
choral score Carus 31.245/55, ISMN 979-0-007-11308-7 56 pages, DIN A4, without cover Minimum order quantity: 20 copies
available
from 20 copies 11,60 € / copy
from 40 copies 10,44 € / copy
from 60 copies 9,28 € / copy
study score Carus 31.245/57, ISMN 979-0-007-13561-4 208 pages, DIN A5, paperback
available
21,50 € / copy
set of parts, complete orchestral parts Carus 31.245/69, ISMN 979-0-007-09709-7 23 x 32 cm, without cover
available
306,00 € / copy
  • 1 x individual part, organ (31.245/49)
    each: 49,40 €
    1 x set of parts, harmony parts, viola da gamba, flute 1, flute 2, oboe 1, oboe 2 (31.245/59)
    each: 58,00 €
    5 x individual part, violin 1 (31.245/61)
    each: 12,00 €
    5 x individual part, violin 2 (31.245/62)
    each: 12,00 €
    4 x individual part, viola (31.245/63)
    each: 12,00 €
    5 x individual part, violoncello/double bass (31.245/64)
    each: 12,00 €
    1 x individual part, organ (31.245/99)
    each: 30,80 €
individual part, organ Carus 31.245/89, ISMN 979-0-007-21145-5 140 pages, without cover
available
49,00 € / copy
  • 1 x individual part, organ (31.245/49)
    each: 49,40 €
    1 x individual part, organ (31.245/99)
    each: 30,80 €
full score digital (download), pdf file Carus 31.245/50-010-000, ISMN 979-0-007-25873-3 208 pages
available
85,50 € / copy
text (without music) for download, html file, Singing text, english translation Carus 31.245/50-360-000
available
8,00 € / copy
text (without music) for download, html file, Singing text, original Carus 31.245/50-380-000
available
5,00 € / copy
Additional product information
  • Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most important composers of Western music history. He came from a widely ramified musical dynasty, which produced numerous musicians and organists in the Thuringian-Saxon area.

    Bach vocal

    Ever since Carus-Verlag was founded in 1972, publishing the music of Johann Sebastian Bach has been a special focus for us. In the 2017 Reformation anniversary year we completed the Bach vocal project. Bach's complete sacred vocal works are now available in modern Urtext editions, together with performance material. A complete edition of all the full scores is also available in a high quality box set. Personal details

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Frequent questions about this work

Welche Ausgabe benötige ich, wenn ich die Orgelstimme der 1725er-Fassung der Johannes-Passion spielen möchte?

Sie benötigen die Ausgaben 31.245/49 und 31.245/99, die unter der Bestellnummer 31.245/89 als preisgünstiges Set zur Verfügung stehen.
You will need issues 31.245/49 and 31.245/99, which are available as a low-priced set under order number 31.245/89.
While only a few of the instrumental and vocal parts from the 1724 version have survived, the semi-autographical copy of the 1739 score enables us to draw some limited conclusions on the 1724 score. The 1724 version was relatively similar to the 1749 version, but two of the texts were changed for the 1749 performance. Some evidence suggests that the wind instrumentation and other details also differed, but we are largely left to conjecture. Carus has separate performance material for an confirmed variation in the instrumentation in the 1724 version (movement 19/20 with 2 violas d'amore and lute instead of two violas con sord. and obl. organ; Carus 31.245/81 +82). An overview of all the versions and their differences can be found in the preliminary material in the Carus full scores for the St. John Passion. If in 2024 you want to perform the St. John Passion in a version close to that of 1724, the 1749 version with the original texts to movement 9 and movement 19/20 is recommended. For movement 9, the text can be found in full score's appendix and in the vocal score. For movement 19/20 both text versions can be found one after another in the full score and vocal score. You can add the characteristic variation in the instrumentation to movement 19/20. Further reconstruction attempts lead unnecessarily away from the traditional musical text, without resulting in clearly audible differences and the certainty of actually creating a performance that is closer to the 1724 version.
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