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| J. S. Bach by Haussman |
So J.
S. Bach was not Mennonite, but his music has been sung in Mennonite
churches for at least three centuries and will continue to shape and influence
Mennonite music and church services for several more. While I am unable to share much of the actual
performance with readers of a blog such as this, a couple of ideas from Bach’s
libretto did happen to stand out during this year’s performance – a couple of very
touching original passages reflecting a high degree of spiritual pietism and a
rather in-depth prescient study by Bach of the Postmodern concept of
intertextuality.
Wednesday, 04 April 2012, Chicago Bach Project
and Soli Deo Gloria presented Bach’s St John Passion at St Vincent de Paul
Parish Church, Chicago (on the DePaul Campus).
Similar to last year’s presentation of the St Matthew Passion, Costa
Rica native John Nelon, conductor, assembled an extraordinary choir, orchestra
and panel of soloists to bring to life one of music’s most spiritually moving
compositions. I was especially joyed to
see the return also of American tenor Nicholas Phan as the Evangelist and the
return to Chicago from Frankfurt-am-Main of contralto Meredith Arwady – both equally
brilliant!
The four, or so, paragraphs of intense
pietist spirituality that I would call to your attention all occur in the
second part of the work. The first
selection is from Jesus’ response to Pilate indicating the general Mennonite
perspective of the Two-Kingdom theology and the Pietist’s response to Christ’s
example:
Jesu: Mein Reich ist nicht von dieser
Welt; ware mein Reich von dieser
Welt,
Meine Diener würden darob
kämpfen, dass
Ich den Jüden nicht überantwortet
würde;
Aber nun ist mein Reich nicht von
dannen.
Choral:
Ach groβer
König, groβ
zu allen Zeiten,
Wie kann ich gnugsam diese
Treu ausbreiten?
Keins Menschen Herze mag
Indes ausdenken,
Was dir zu schenken.
Ich kann’s it meinen Sinnen
Nicht erreichen,
Womit doch dein Erbarmen
Zu ergleichen.
Wie kann ich dir den
Deine LIebestaten
Im Werk erstatten?
Jesus: My kingdom is not of this world;
If my kingdom were of this world,
then
My servants would fight so that I
should
Not be handed over to the Jews;
but now
my kingdom is not from here.
Chorale:
Ah, great King, great in all
ages,
How can I make my faithfulness
In any way adequate?
No human heart can conceive
What gift is fit to offer you.
My mind cannot imagine
What can be compared
To your mercy.
How then can I match
Your loving deeds
By anything I do?
The second selection was ably and movingly sung by tenor Marc Molomot as
the tenor aria takes up the narrative from the bass:
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| Sunset over Lustre-Volt homestead |
Erwäge, wie sein blutgefärbter
Rücken
In allen Stücken
Dem Himmel gleiche geht,
Daran, nachdem die Wasserwogen
Von unsrer Sündflut sich
verzogen,
Der allerschönste Regenbogen
Als Gottes Gnadenzeichen steht!
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| Sunset over Marina, South Africa |
Ponder well how his back
Bloodstained all over
Is like the sky,
Where,
after the deluge
From our flood of sins has
abated,
There appears the most beautiful
rainbow
As a sign of God’s mercy!
I find the tenor aria deeply moving both
musically and as an image. Truly, it is
not the rainbow, however, that presents itself to my mind in hearing these
words but rather the brilliant sunsets and sunrises of the Montana, Manitoba
and South African skies, especially. Not
only does the red hued light overarch
the entire world but in their promise of cyclical time, they demonstrate the
principle of regeneration and new beginnings, despite the past, despite the
content of the past.
Next comes the passage marking the height
of The Passion – the fulfillment of
Christ’s ministry, ”Es ist vollbracht!” “It
is accomplished.” I find Bach’s use of
the term “accomplished” so much more accurate, spiritual and hopeful than the
common King James Bible use of the term “finished”. I would call the third selection “Es ist
vollbracht!”:
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| Man of Sorrows by Lorenzetti (1330 CE) |
Jesu: Es ist vollbracht!
Aria:
Es ist bollbracht!
O Trost vor die gekränkten
Seelen!
Die Trauernacht
Läβt nun die letzte Stunde
zählen.
Der Held aus Juda siegt mit Macht
Und schlieβt
den Kampf.
Es ist vollbracht!
Evangelista: Und neiget das Haupt
Und verschied.
Aria Basso und
Chor:
Mein teurer Heiland, laβ
dich fragen,
Da du nunmehr ans Kreuz
geschlagen
Und selbst gesagt:
Es ist vollbracht,
Bin ich vom Sterben frei gemacht?
Kann ich durch deine Pein und
Sterben
Das Himmelreich ererben?
Is taller Welt Erlösung da?
Du kannst vor Schmerzen zwar
nichts sagen;
Doch neigest du das Haupt
Und sprichst
stillschweigend: ja.
Jesu, der du warest tot,
Lebest nun ohn Ende,
In der letzten Todesnot
Nirgend mich hinwende
Als zu dir, der mich versühnt,
O du lieber Herre!
Gib mir nur, was du verdient,
Mehr ich nicht begehre!
Jesus: It is accomplished!
Aria:
It is accomplished!
What comfort for all suffering
souls!
The night of sorrow
Now reaches its final hours.
The hero from Judah triumphs in
his might
And brings the strife to an end.
It is accomplished!
Evangelist: And he bowed his head
And passed away.
Aria Bass and
Chorus:
My beloved Savior, let me ask
you,
Since you have now been nailed to
the cross
And you yourself have said:
It is accomplished,
Have I been set free from
death? Through your pain and death can I
Inherit the kingdom of heaven?
Is this the redemption of the
whole world?
You can indeed not speak for
anguish;
But you bow your head
And silently say: yes.
Jesus, you were dead,
And now live for ever,
In my final agony of death
May I turn nowhere else
But to you, who have redeemed me,
O my dear Lord!
Give me only what you have won,
For more I could not wish!
The last selection could only be referred
to as The Prayer of the Pietist:
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| Crucifixion by Giotto ca. 1330, Italy |
Durch dein bitter Leiden,
Dass wir dir stets untertan
All Untugend meiden,
Deinen Tod und sein Ursach
Fruchtbarlich bedenken,
Dafür, wiewohl arm und schwanch,
Dir Dankopfer schenken!
Oh help us, Christ, God’s Son,
Through your bitter suffering,
So that always obedient to you
We may shun all wrongdoing,
And thinking of your death and
its cause,
We may profit from our
reflections,
And in this way, however poor and
Inadequate it may be,
Give you an offering of thanks!
Bach’s St
John Passion is beautiful for both its music and its sentiment. Too often, especially when dealing with works
that are not in English, we have lost the intimate connection between the music
and the sentiments of the words. As
Mennonites, this well illustrates the difficulty we have had in preserving our
own cultural connections to our German-language heritage in an all-English
environment.
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