Hearing Bach's Passions

Johann Sebastian Bach's two surviving passions--St. John and St. Matthew--are an essential part of the modern repertory, performed regularly both by professional ensembles and amateur groups. These large, complex pieces are well loved, but due to our distance from the original context in which they were performed, questions and problems emerge. Bach scholar Daniel Melamed examines the issues we encounter when we hear the passions performed today, and offers unique insight into Bach's passion settings.

Daniel R. Melamed is Professor of Music at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. He is the author of J. S. Bach and the German Motet, co-author (with Michael Marissen) of An Introduction to Bach Studies, editor of Bach Studies 2, and has published articles, reviews and musical editions on J. S. Bach and members of the Bach family.

List of Tables
Introduction: Hearing the Passions in Bach's Time and Ours
Part I Performing Forces and Their Significance
Chapter 1. Vocal Forces in Bach's Passions
Chapter 2. Singers and Roles in Bach's Passions
Part II Passions in Performance
Chapter 3. The Double Chorus in the St. Matthew Passion BWV 224
Chapter 4. Which St. John Passion BWV 245?
Chapter 5. A St. Mark Passion Makes the Rounds
Part III Phantom Passions
Chapter 6. Parody and Reconstruction: The St. Mark Passion BWV 247
Chapter 7. Bach/Not Bach: The Anonymous St. Luke Passion BWV 246
Epilogue: Listening to Bach's Passions Today
Appendix: Tables
Suggestions for Further Reading and Listening
Index