Brockes-Passion TWV 5:1

Vocal Ensemble of the Warsaw Chamber Opera

Director of the Vocal Ensemble | Krzysztof Kusiel-Moroz

Duration

180 min

Passion is the story of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, as well as its account contained in the four Gospels. It is also its stage performance in the form of a dramatic mystery play or a musical composition based on the text of one of the evangelists. Finally, “passio” means suffering.

Musically, everything began somewhere in the IV century, as evidenced by the description of Holy Week services in Jerusalem left by the pilgrim Egerius. Initially, the Passion was read; only in the X century, as if influenced by the solemn and elevated nature of the narrative, did it begin to be sung – at first on a simple liturgical chant tone, then on a separate Passion tone. The Passion was performed by a single singer (a deacon); the division of roles among three priest-readers, along with the associated vocal distinctions (Christ – low voice, slow tempo; Evangelist – middle register, moderate tempo; high and fast voices for the others), emerged around the XIII century.

The further development of the genre was determined by the evolution of music itself: by the late XV century, polyphony entered the Passion narrative and in Protestant Germany, the national language was introduced. In Matthäus-Passion by Johannes Walther (1530), the crowd’s part was arranged in a four-voice homorhythm setting; in Johannes-Passion by Antonius Scandellus (around 1561), Christ’s part appeared in four voices, while the crowd’s responses were five-voice settings. In the XVIII century, the Passion was influenced by oratorio and opera, with instrumental accompaniment added to the vocal parts (Matthäus-Passion by Thomas Selle, 1642), protestant chorales and hymns start to appear (Matthäus-Passion by Martin Köler, 1664) and Hamburg pastor Heinrich Brockes wrote two Passion librettos (1712, 1715). Finally, Johann Sebastian Bach emerged.

Brockes-Passion (TWV 5:1) by Georg Philipp Telemann was composed in 1716. It opens with a swelling orchestral chord, interrupted by a slightly dissonant blend of wind instruments and a steady, march-like rhythm. The first notes of the sinfonia set the mood – calm and solemn. Yet, almost immediately, a playfully lilting clarinet melody disrupts the atmosphere, revealing the music’s dual nature: both Passion and opera. The first tries to tell the story of Christ’s suffering, while the second desires to showcase its own beauty, pausing and interrupting the flow. Telemann’s work is characterized by rich orchestration and a symbolic, illustrative use of individual instruments (the flute represents tranquillity, the horn is associated with the destructive power of sin, the oboe conveys reconciliation and redemption, and finally, the triumphant sound of the trumpet announces the joyful message of Easter…). An important point of reference is the arias-commentaries of the allegorical Daughter of Zion. Christ is portrayed as deeply human, filled with fear (aria “Mein Vater! – Father, look how I suffer…”) and love (a duet with His Mother), burdened by the weight of suffering (a descending phrase on the word “asaphthani”), ultimately, finding peace (dramatic, almost Bach-like phrase “Es ist Vollbracht …”.