Bach's St Matthew Passion: 1st chorus: Kommt, ihr Töchter

Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion was first performed on 11 April 1727 in St Thomas Church,Leipzig,Germany. It is said to be the greatest peice of sacred classical music ever written. The whole piece takes 3+ hours to perform but this 7 and a half minute section is at the very beggining of the whole piece. In my opinion I think it is the best section of the whole piece. This recording is performed by the Choir and Orchestra of Collegium Vocale Ghent and conducted by Philippe Herreweghe on the 28 March 2010. There are 2 main Choir's, the Orchestra and the soprano ripieno chorus.

Main chorus's Words

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ripieno chorus's words

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Analysis

 

0:10-1:26 The piece starts with a sad and serious feeling to it because you can hear the low drones from the church organ. Straight away you can hear how complex the melodys are and how all the sounds from all the instruments literally merge together. At 0:27 you can hear the violins above all the other instruments. The flute plays a big part in this section of the piece but its not the flute youre used to. The 18th century flute looks like this.

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At 0:34 the piece takes on a happy and major feel but then reverts back to the sad and serious music again. This happens alot in this section of St Matthew Passion. At 1:05 notice that all the instruments go up in a phrase that repeats itself many times.

 

1:27-2:13 Chorus 1 starts singing. Notice how the same words and phrases are repeated several times.  At 1:50 the singing is truly beautiful. At 2:04 notice that the tenors sing the main words while all the other parts move around them in complex melodys.

 

2:14-3:31 Chorus 1 sings "Sehet!" (Behold!) Then chorus 2 sings "Wen?" (Whom?) Then chorus 1 answers them by saying "Den Bräutigam" (The Bridegroom) and that repeats. At 2:34 the ripieno chorus joins in singing "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig Am Stamm des Kreuzes geschlachtet" whilst both choruses carry on singing the same words from before. Notice that at 3:02 the ripieno chorus holds onto the note for a long time which holds the piece together. The ripieno chorus is usually sung by children but in this recording it is sung by adults. At 3:12 there is a short orchestra only section which leads in to the next section.

 

3:32-4:44 This section has similar notes and rhythm to the last bit but the words are different (see the words at the top of this article). Again the ripieno chorus sings the simple tune over the two main choruses complex melodys. At 4:20 there is again an orchestra only section.

 

4:45-5:32 This is where the piece changes. The orchestra plays a staccato version of the last section. Chorus 1 sings "Seht!" (Behold!) then the altos in chorus 2 sing "Wohin?" (Where?) then the sopranos and tenors in chorus 2 repeat "Wohin?" then everyone in chorus 2 repeats it again! This creates the effect of chorus 1 asking a question and everyone in chorus 2 wants the answer to it! They then repeat this again. At 5:07 the ripieno chorus sings the legato section whilst the main choruses sing the same staccato section over them. At the end of that phrase everyone sings smoothly creating a nice effect. Notice that at 5:23 the orchestra goes into the original key.

 

5:33-5:55 The ripieno chorus sings the words "Sonst müßten wir verzagen" in a of major melody which tne leads into sad and sorrowful sounds whilst the other main choruses sing the staccato section from before then join the ripieno chorus in the end of that phrase. Then straight after, chorus 1 sings

"Auf unsre Schuld" again bringing the piece back into its original key.

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5:56-6:45 Choruses 1 and 2 sing the melodys similar to before. At around 6:13 you can here the music building to the climax. At 6:17 the ripieno chorus sings "Erbarm dich unser, o Jesu!" which is the climax of the this chorus in St Matthew Passion. At 6:35 you can hear nearly everyone singing the long sorrowful melismatic sequence.

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6:46-7:33 Choruses 1 and 2 sing in a similar melody from before until 7:06 when you can hear the clashed notes and then chorus 1 sings and chorus 2 answers like before, but this time it goes up to give the tension of it not finishing yet. Then after all the tension and sorrow in this piece, it ends with a beautiful major chord. Notice at 7:22, the sopranos in both choruses and the orchetsra plays a quick trill leading to the lovely end chord.

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Please show this to your friends who like music! I spent a lot of time on this!

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