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 our practice aids 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 and is therefore not compatible for practicing.
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Digital text (without sheet music) incl. printing licence, html file, singing text, english translationhtml file, singing text, english translation (Sample)Parte prima 1. ChoralO man, thy grievous sins bemoan,
2a. Recitativo
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.Evangelista
2b. Chorus
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:Jesus of Nazareth.
2c. RecitativoEvangelista
Jesus saith unto them:
Jesus
I am
...
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Digital text (without sheet music) incl. printing licence, html file, singing text, originalhtml file, singing text, original (Sample)Parte prima · Vor der Predigt 1. Choral
O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß,
2a. Recitativo
darum Christus seins Vaters Schoß
äußert und kam auf Erden;
von einer Jungfrau rein und zart
für uns er hie geboren ward,
er wollt der Mittler werden.
Den Toten er das Leben gab
und legt dabei all Krankheit ab,
bis sich die Zeit herdrange
dass er für uns geopfert würd,
trüg unser Sünden schwer Bürd
wohl an dem Kreuze lange.Evangelista
2b.
Jesus ging mit seinen Jüngern über den Bach Kidron, da war ein Garte, darein ging Jesus und seine Jünger. Judas aber, der ihn verriet, wusste den Ort auch, denn Jesus versammlete sich oft daselbst mit seinen Jüngern. Da nun Judas zu sich hatte genommen die Schar und der Hohenpriester und Pharisäer Diener, kommt er dahin mit Fackeln, Lampen und mit Waffen. Als nun Jesus wusste alles, was ihm begegnen sollte, ging er hinaus und sprach zu ihnen:
Jesus
Wen suchet ihr?
Evangelista
Sie antworteten ihm:...
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Additional product information
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Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach
| 1685-1750Johann 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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Editor
Peter Wollny
| 1961
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Songwriter / Librettist
Barthold Heinrich Brockes
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Frequent questions about this work
Which edition do I need if I want to play the organ part of the 1725 version of the “St. John Passion”?
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
I would like to perform the “St. John Passion” in its first version from 1724. Is this version also available from Carus or can it be found in another edition?
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 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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