Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial (Nos. 14-17)

The next recitative includes several interesting word-painting motifs and musical illustrations. When the Gospel mentions “the song of praise”, the bass line has an ascending line of 16th notes. Next, as Jesus quotes the Old Testament, the music illustrates the scattering of the sheep. Lastly, when Jesus announces his rising, the strings illustrate with an ascending scale, and the fragment end in major mode.

The chorale that follows this announcement is the so-called “Passion Chorale”. It appears 4 times throughout the Passion in various keys and harmonizations to illustrate different moments and moods of the story. The original melody was composed by Hans Leo Hassler in 1601. This first rendition is in the bright E major, possibly reflecting the joy of the announcement just uttered by Jesus.

The following recitative is the exchange between Jesus and Peter, and then we hear the Passion Chorale again, this time in the lower and darker key of E flat, as the text puts the listener in the place of Peter, vowing to remain by Jesus’ side.

Matthew 26, 30-35

Jesus Prays in the Garden of Gethsemane (Nos. 18-25)

The next scene describes Jesus arriving into Gethsemane with his disciples, and asking 3 of them to join him in prayer. The Evangelist’s line word-paints Jesus being “grieved” and “troubled” with jagged lines and wide leaps. Jesus description of his own distress is illustrated by low, dissonant chords in the strings as he asks these 3 disciples to keep watch with him.

At this point the narrative is interrupted with a powerful vignette in which the solo tenor (usually a different performer from the Evangelist) identifies with Jesus’ pain and fear. The agitated arioso, accompanied by flutes and oboes da caccia, is interspersed with verses of the “Herzliebster Jesu” chorale, heard initially as No. 3, which makes its second appearance.

The arioso flows into a tenor aria with an oboe solo. The tenor impersonates the watchman (“I shall keep watch by my Jesus”). The choir continues to provide contrast in between verses of the aria, with a soft sound accompanied by flutes, strings and continuo which picks up on the theme of slumber (“our sins go to sleep”) and reminds us that Jesus’ suffering is bitter yet sweet as it will become our salvation.

The narrative briefly resumes with Jesus’ prayer which includes the well-known quote asking God to “let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but rather as you will.”

The bass now has an opportunity to reflect on the powerful image of Christ willing to “drink [from] the cup the bitterness of death”, with another arioso/aria pair. The aria, set to ternary tempo and with its constant shifting beat across the barline, subtly reminisces of drunkenness and highlights how the bitter drink becomes sweet as Jesus drinks from the cup first.

Jesus goes back to his disciples to find them asleep. He urges them to remain awake and prays for the second time, reiterating that he will “drink from the cup”. Another choral follows, this time in a reaffirming tone, reminding the congregation that Jesus won’t abandon those who trust in God.

Matthew 26, 36-43

Jesus is Arrested (Nos. 26-28)

The Evangelist narrates how Jesus went to the disciples again to find them asleep, and after praying for the third time, wakes them up so they can be witness to the betrayal. The Evangelist mentions the “great crowd” that accompanied Judas, with “swords and clubs” – this is the first mention of the “turbae” which the choir will be in charge of impersonating in the coming episodes. This bit of narration ends with Judas’ kiss to identify Jesus to his captors, and the statement that they “laid hands on Jesus and seized him”.

This crucial moment leads to one of the most powerful vignettes in the Passion so far. As Jesus is taken from Gethsemane to face the High Priests, Bach emulates his faltering walk using the high strings of Coro 1 without the basso continuo. Flutes and oboes accompany the soprano and alto solos in a heart wrenching lament, while Coro 2 (full orchestra and all voices) punctuates the image with short exclamations in demand of Jesus’ release. One can imagine Coro 2 representing the disciples watching from a distance, not able (or willing) to intervene as Jesus is taken away.

This transitions into a bone-chilling fast triple-meter choral piece in which both Coros merge, in anger and desperation, invoking Hell to open its “fiery abyss” and swallow up “the false betrayer and the murderous blood”. The first part of the text is delivered as one four-voice choir, but after the suspended silent measure the groups divide and deliver their invocations alternatively as the other group holds long notes. This creates a striking musical effect which could be perceived as waves or flames.

The final recitative of this scene includes two long speeches by Jesus – the first to one of his disciples and the other to the crowds, in both cases referring to the fulfillment of the Scripture. The Evangelist then succinctly states that at this moment all his disciples desert Jesus and flee. Significantly, this short line has its highest note on the word “alle” (“all”).

Matthew 26, 44-56

Part 1 Closing Chorus (No. 29)

Originally, the first part of the Passion closed with a simple harmonization of the chorale “Jesum laß ich nicht von mir” (“I shall not leave my Jesus”, Christian Keymann, 1658). In his 1736 revision, Bach decided to better balance the massive opening chorus, and repurposed the chorale fantasia from his 1725 version of the St. John Passion (which in turn could have derived from an earlier Weimar work). The text is the first stanza of a Lutheran Passion hymn by Sebald Heyden dating from 1530.

Coros 1 and 2 are merged into one. The wind instruments (flutes and oboes d’amore) move constantly in pairs, and the high strings also behave as a cohesive group adding their own motifs to the warp. Within this tapestry, the sopranos carry the chorale melody while the remaining 3 voices move in counterpoint to the main theme.