Historia der Auferstehung Christi SWV 50  (47:41)
	01	Die auferstehung unsers Herren Jesu Christi						01:23
	02	Da der Sabbath vergangen war						06:50
	03	Da aber Maria Magdalena also lauft						05:25
	04	Und als sie das saget, wandte sie zuruecke						05:21
	05	Die Weiber aber gingen hinein in das Grab						04:22
	06	Da sie aber hingingen, siehe, da kamen etliche von den Huetern						02:19
	07	Und siehe, Zweene aus ihnen gingen an demselbigen Tage						07:52
	08	Und er ging hinein, bei ihnen zu bleiben						01:37
	09	Und sie stunden zu derselbigen Stunde auf						01:36
	10	Es war aber am Abend desselbigen Sabbaths						03:48
	11	Und sie legten ihm fuer ein Stueck vom gebraten Fisch						05:03
	12	Gott sei Dank						02:05
Matthauspassion SWV 479  (60:33)
	01	Introitus						00:55
	02	Der Beschluss des hohen Rates						01:39
	03	Die Salbung in Betanien						02:40
	04	Der Verrat durch Judas						00:41
	05	Die Vorbereitung des Paschamahls						01:25
	06	Das Mahl						03:56
	07	Der Gang zum Oelberg						02:07
	08	Das Gebet in Getsemani						04:18
	09	Die Gefangennahme						03:44
	10	Das Verhoer vor dem Hohen Rat						04:31
	11	Die Verleugnung durch Petrus						02:39
	12	Die Auslieferung an Pilatus						00:33
	13	Das Ende des Judas						02:50
	14	Die Verhandlung vor Pilatus						05:54
	15	Die Verspottung Jesu durch die Soldaten						01:49
	16	Die Kreuzigung						04:44
	17	Der Tod Jesu						05:37
	18	Das Begraebnis Jesu						01:26
	19	Die Bewachung des Grabes						02:21
	20	Beschluss						02:18
	21	Weib, was weinest du?						04:26
Lukaspassion SWV 480  (52:18)
	01	Introitus						01:09
	02	Der Beschluss des Hohen Rates						00:27
	03	Der Verrat durch Judas						00:45
	04	Die Vorbereitung des Paschamahls						02:29
	05	Das Mahl						03:34
	06	Vom Herrschen und vom Dienen						02:31
	07	Die Ankuendigung der Verleugnung und der Umkehr des Petrus						01:31
	08	Die Stunde der Entscheidung						02:33
	09	Das Gebet am Oelberg						02:24
	10	Die Gefangennahme						02:44
	11	Die Verleugnung durch Petrus						02:56
	12	Die Verspottung durch die Waechter						00:46
	13	Das Verhoer vor dem Hohen Rat						03:06
	14	Die Auslieferung an Pilatus						02:51
	15	Die Verspottung durch Herodes						01:41
	16	Die Verhandlung vor Pilatus						03:57
	17	Die Kreuzigung						07:32
	18	Der Tot Jesu						02:25
	19	Das Begraebnis Jesu						01:46
	20	Beschluss						01:33
	21	Es gingen zweene Menschen hinauf						03:38
Johannespassion SWV 491  (52:34)
	01	Introitus						01:30
	02	Die Verhaftung						03:55
	03	Jesus vor dem Hohenpriester						00:39
	04	Petrus im Hof des Hohenpriesters						01:32
	05	Das Verhoer vor dem Hohen Rat						02:12
	06	Die Verleugnung durch Petrus						01:11
	07	Das Verhoer und die Verurteilung durch Pilatus						04:48
	08	Jesus wird zum Tode verurteilt						09:29
	09	Die Kreuzigung Jesu						07:14
	10	Beschluss						02:01
	11	Introitus						02:09
	12	Symphonia						01:09
	13	Und es war um die dritte Stunde						00:56
	14	Es stund da aber bei dem Kreuze						02:11
	15	Aber der Uebelthaeter einer						03:05
	16	Und um die neunte Stunde						02:05
	17	Darnach als Jesus wusste						01:54
	18	Und abermail rief Jesus laut						01:27
	19	Symphonia						01:13
	20	Conclusio						01:54

St. John Passion for soprano, 3 tenors, 2 basses & chorus, SWV 481

Composition Date 1665
Publication Date ca. . 17??
First Performance Mar 24, 1665

Composition Description by Robert Cummings

Heinrich Schu"tz wrote this work in his last years, along with the other passions, the St. Luke and the St. John. These works came from the pen of a man 80 years old, a man who reached an age rarely attained by anyone in the seventeenth century, let alone by one who remained quite active in his taxing profession (kapellmeister). What is just as remarkable, though, is that all three works are fiery and full of ardor and youthful passion. They are among Schu"tz's finest compositions, and among the finest compositions by anyone of his time.

Schu"tz wrote the St. John Passion (History of the Life and Death of Jesus Christ...according to the Evangelist St. John) in the Phrygian mode. It is scored for a cappella chorus and features a soprano soloist, three tenors and two basses. Schu"tz would likely have added instrumental accompaniment had he intended the work primarily for the concert venue, but in conformance with liturgical guidelines in Dresden, he restricted the musical scoring entirely to the vocal realm.

The work is divided into 16 sections, beginning with the spirited yet devout "Introitus: Das Leiden unsers Herren Jesu" and closing with the beautiful "O Hilf, Christie, Gottes Sohn." Schu"tz often has long stretches in the work of unaccompanied solo singing. In some of the earlier sections this is especially characteristic; yet, the music never turns dull, always remains vital, the lone voice typically sounding compelling and passionate, as, for example, in the third section, "Jesus antwortet," where the unaccompanied tenor part never seems barren or to yearn for choral support. The soloist takes on a chant-like quality in the sixth section, "Ware dieser nicht ein U"belta"ter" and has spirited exchanges with the chorus in the eighth, "Da Schreien sie wieder allesamt."

Schu"tz's choral writing throughout is also effective. The tenth section, "Kreuzige Ihn" (Crucify Him), features a mood in which the composer subtly conveys both a somber anxiety and a spirit that augurs triumph. In the aforementioned final section, "O Hilf, Christie, Gottes Sohn," Schu"tz imparts an atmosphere of serene and angelic religiosity via the subtle coloration with which he endows the choral music. In the end, the common judgment that this work is a major masterpiece of a cappella sacred music must be affirmed. Yet, sadly, the St. John Passion is seldom performed and recorded.




St. Matthew Passion for 2 sopranos, alto, 3 tenors, 2 basses & chorus, SWV 479

Composition Date 1666
Publication Date ca. . 17??
First Performance Apr 1, 1666

Composition Description by Brian Robins

The tradition of musical settings of the events of Christ's Passion according to the accounts in the four gospels extends back to the days of chant, the plainsong later supplemented by the introduction of polyphonic choruses for the crowd (or turbae) scenes. In Lutheran Germany the use of music for didactic purposes was particularly strong, many composers producing settings of the events that lie at the heart of Christianity, the culmination being the great passions of Bach. During the first part of the seventeenth century it was customary for composers to maintain a strictly dramatic approach to their settings, eschewing the interpolation of arias and chorales commenting on the unfolding drama that would become familiar in the settings of Bach and other eighteenth century composers. It is within this context that the three passions of the greatest of Bach's German predecessors fall.

All three, one each devoted to the gospels of St. Matthew, St. John, and St. Luke, are products of the final creative years of Heinrich Schu"tz (1585-1672), most of whose long and distinguished career was spent as Kapellmeister at the court of Dresden. According to the court records at Dresden, they were all given during April, 1666, although only the most famous of them, the St. Matthew Passion, can be ascribed to that year with reasonable accuracy. Like its fellows, the St. Matthew Passion conforms to the spare, direct style of his later works, a style Schu"tz had honed of necessity during the bleak period of musical austerity occasioned by the 30 Years' War. There is no instrumental accompaniment, and the setting of the text is largely syllabic, the exceptions being invariably closely tied to special words that require special emphasis or tone-painting, a technique of which Schu"tz was an unexcelled master. The words of the Evangelist and other characters are set as highly flexible recitative, while most of the choruses are short terse interpolations that show the composer's great skill in articulating dramatic situations. Far from the self-imposed restraint of the setting being responsible for an underplaying of the unfolding events, it produces an immediacy of communication in which the listener is encouraged to concentrate on the spiritual meaning and message of the text. In its very economy and sparseness, the St. Matthew Passion represents a distillation of Schu"tz's art.