Jesus is Buried (Nos. 64-67)

This scene opens with the last arioso/aria pair of the Passion, given to the bass. The arioso reflects on the “peace treaty” that results from the fulfillment of the scriptures. The image of the evening hour with the dove and the olive branch in its beak, reinforced by the soft texture created by the strings on top of long pedal notes in the bass, renders a sense of stillness and quiet after all the dramatic events that came before. The aria, in which the believer offers their heart as a place to bury Jesus, is comforting and consoling with its flowing, lilting 12/8 rhythm. It sees the return of the oboes da caccia, now blended into the strings of the orchestra.

The Evangelist resumes the narration describing how Joseph prepared the body, laid it in the grave and secured the entry with a big rock. The choruses get their final opportunity to impersonate a crowd, now the High Priests and Pharisees, as they go to Pilate to request a guard for the tomb. An interesting word-painting moment in the chorus is on Jesus’ words in reported speech “Ich will nach dreien Tagen wieder auferstehen” (“I shall rise again after three days”), which are set in canonic form to a rising scale for each voice in ascending order, starting with the basses.

The Evangelist closes the narration prompting Pilate’s agreement and stating how the guards sealed the stone and kept watch over the grave.

In a final recitative for four soloists and the choirs, Picander’s text elaborates on Jesus’ sacrifice, our penance and remorse, and giving “a thousand thanks”. The choral interventions repeat “Mein Jesu, gute Nacht!” (“My Jesus, good night!”).

Matthew 27, 59-66

Conclusion (No. 68)

The Passion closes with a lamentation in C minor, in the form of a colossal Sarabande set for the double choir and orchestra, with some phrases played jointly by the two groups and others in alternating fashion. It follows the usual A-B-A pattern.

Picander’s text elaborates on the tomb and the concept of rest (with images such as exhausted limbs, pillow, sleep). The A section is delivered predominantly together by the two Coros, reserving the alternation for the “Ruhe sanfte, sanfte ruh!” (“rest gently, gently rest!”) invocations. The B section achieves a smaller sound by putting Coro 1 alone in charge of advancing through the text, with Coro 2 adding “Ruhe sanfte, ruhe wohl!” interjections along the way.

As the movement restates the A section, the sound grows again. The strong, full beat appoggiatura that closes the section comes back at the very end of the movement as an “excruciating dissonance” (Gardiner) which some commentators associate to the heavy stone being dragged to seal Jesus’ tomb.