Work of Handel and Bach
History of "Passion" music--Heinrich Schütz and his "Seven Last
Words"--His "Passions"--The text of Brockes--Distinguishing
features of the forms of Handel and Bach--The former as a
development of Italian oratorio--The latter as essentially
German--Protestantism and the chorale--Bach's intimacy and
Handel's popularity.
The history of passion music previous to that of Bach is voluminous.
Early in the middle ages the history of the passion according to the
four evangelists was sung on the four days of Holy Week. This was done
in the Roman Catholic churches. A priest intoned the words of the
narrative, a second priest the words of Christ, and a third those of the
other personages in the story. The words of the populace, the crowd,
were sung by the choir in the polyphony of the time. The Protestant
authorities saw the value of this form of service as a means of
impressing the story upon the popular mind and continued its use, but
with German instead of Latin text. As early as 1530 there were passions
according to St. Matthew and St. John, with German text and music by
Johann Walther. The first published edition is a passion according to
St. Matthew, with music by Clemens Stephani, printed at Nuremberg in
1570. Various versions written by Melchior Vulpius, in 1613, Thomas
Mancinus, 1620, and Christopher Schulz, 1653, are known.
An important contribution to the development of passion music was that
of Heinrich Schütz (born at Köstritz, Saxony, Oct. 8, 1585, died at
Dresden, Nov. 6, 1672). Schütz was a pupil of Giovanni Gabrieli, of the
Venetian school of organists, and was made chapel master at Dresden by
the Elector George I. In his "Seven Last Words of Christ" (produced in
1645) we find a fusing of all the elements which appear in the earlier
passion music, and also a definite foundation for the form employed by
Bach. The work begins with a four-part chorus set to the words of the
old hymn:--
"Since Christ our Lord was crucified
And bore the spear-wound in his side."
An instrumental "symphony" follows and leads up to a recitative by the
Evangelist (alto voice) who tells the story: "And it was close upon the
third hour when they crucified the Lord, and Jesus spake." The words of
Christ are then sung by a baritone: "Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do." The narrative is not confined to one voice, tenor and
soprano also taking part in it. The words "And at about the ninth hour
he cried aloud and said," are set for a quartet. So also are the words
"And after he had thus spoken," etc. An instrumental symphony follows
the close of the story, "And he gave up his spirit," and the work ends
with a chorus expressing the thoughts of the Christian Church.
Significant features of this work are its use of recitative instead of
plain chant, which was used in the narrative and recitative parts of the
earlier Passions, its preservation of choruses of the old polyphonic
motet style, its employment of a carefully made instrumental
accompaniment, and its introduction of the two picturesque orchestral
interludes. Schütz's recitative, it should be noted, was not so much
like the modern oratorio recitative as like the arioso style,--that in
which the recitation has a melodious character.
In the years 1665 and 1666 Schütz produced four settings of the Passion.
In these the composer, in an effort to combat the growing influence of
Italian opera music in Germany, abandoned the instrumental accompaniment
and wrote his choruses in the pure _a capella_ church style. But his
individual characters, the evangelist, Christ, and others, used dramatic
recitative. The Passion music of Giovanni Sebastiani, written in 1672,
approaches the form of Bach's very closely. The Evangelist, who tells
the story in a recitative of melodious character, is a tenor, and his
recitation is accompanied by 2 violins, viola, and bass. The sacred aria
makes its appearance in this setting, and so also does the four-part
Protestant chorale. This introduction of the chorale grew out of the
custom, which had formerly prevailed, of asking the congregation at
convenient points in the Passion to sing a hymn.
There were other versions of the Passion, but that which most concerns
us at present was an arrangement of the text in 1712 by Barthold
Heinrich Brockes, a member of the Town Council of Hamburg. This was set
to music by several composers, among them Handel, and it was known to
Sebastian Bach. This text appears to the taste of the present to be
overloaded with ornate figures of speech. The reader may now be able to
perceive the differences between the form and style of the oratorio
proper as cultivated by Handel and of the Passion oratorio, as a special
variety, cultivated by Bach. In the St. Matthew Passion, the master-work
of Bach, the narrative part of the text, according to the writings of
Matthew, is sung by a tenor in a form of recitative. The speeches of
Jesus, St. Peter, the High Priest, and Pontius Pilate are always
delivered by a bass. The Jews are represented by a chorus. A second
group, representing the ideal Christian congregation, introduces moral
observations, while a third group sings chorales, representing the
spirit of Protestantism.
In Handel's "Messiah" the text, taken from various parts of the Bible,
gives an outline of the story of the coming of the Saviour, of his
suffering and death. There are solos by tenor, soprano, alto, and bass
voices, which are used entirely for musical effect. There is no attempt
to identify any voice with any personage. "He was despised and rejected,"
is sung by the alto; "I know that my Redeemer liveth," by the soprano;
"But who may abide the day of His coming?" by the bass. The entire
treatment of the text is regulated by musical considerations. It is not
possible to discover that the chorus represents the populace or the
church. For instance, the bass sings the air "The people that walked in
darkness have seen a great light," with text from Isaiah; and this is
followed by the chorus "For unto us a son is born," from the same book.
Then comes the pastoral symphony, a bit of purely descriptive
instrumental music, which serves as a prelude to the scene of the
shepherds, which is narrated by a soprano voice. This wholly undramatic
style is not unlike the purely musical manner of setting the mass and
the other parts of the church liturgy, and has been closely followed in
its form by modern composers in many works in which the element of
personality is not a factor. It was followed by Handel himself in some
of his other works, by Haydn in "The Seasons," and by Mendelssohn in his
"St. Paul" to a considerable extent.
But Handel himself thoroughly understood the value of the old-fashioned
form of Carissimi, in which the personages were treated dramatically and
uttered direct speeches. The familiar number, "Total Blindness," from
his "Samson," is an example of this. But the difference between the
oratorios of Handel and Bach is not merely one of form. It is still more
noticeable in the style and the spirit. The Handelian oratorio, although
it may not at first sight appear to be so, is a direct descendant of the
Italian. Handel was completely saturated with the spirit of Italian
music, and he developed his musical style from it. It was plainly his
purpose in building the great choruses of his oratorios to follow the
ecclesiastical polyphonic style of Italy. But this in itself had
undergone certain technical changes. In the first place, the
disappearance of the old church scales and the introduction of the
modern major and minor keys had placed polyphony on a new basis and
compelled a more free and unrestricted treatment of the voice parts in
order that the new laws of harmony might not be broken. Again the old
church choruses were designed for performance without accompaniment,
while the oratorio choruses had to follow the later custom and make use
of the orchestra. Hence Handel's polyphony had to be cast in broader and
more powerful masses, while his orchestral accompaniment had a certain
amount of independence, and at times even considerable descriptive
power. His entire musical scheme, however, was devised to reproduce in
broad tints the emotional spirit of the text.
Handel's choruses are full of musical characterization, and it is this
spirit, even more than the style, which distinguishes them from those of
his Italian forerunners, and which has made them stand the test of time
and manifold changes of musical taste. "The Messiah" is the most popular
oratorio in the United States, because its broad mass effects are
instantly influential, even among those who neither perceive their
musical character nor comprehend their artistic purpose. Strongly marked
rhythms, fluent melody, and powerful climaxes are among the easily
discernible elements of the greatness of Handel's choruses, but the
deeper secret of their power is their admirable adaptation of old means
to the promptings of a new spirit. Handel never forgot his public,
however, and it is largely because he kept always before him the
necessity of achieving his artistic purposes with attractive means that
his "Messiah" continues to be popular. The fundamental elements of
popularity in music do not change radically, after all, and hence
Handel's music holds its own in the absence from the domain of oratorio
of anything of a more influential nature.
Two great characteristics mark the difference between Bach's work in the
development of oratorio and Handel's. In the first place Bach was
essentially German in thought and practice, and in the second place he
cared comparatively little about producing beautiful melody and
attractive musical effects, but devoted his energies to the most
accurate, detailed, and subtle expression. The Teutonism of Bach's music
is to be seen not only in the intense earnestness and high
intellectuality of it, but in its wide and significant employment of the
German chorale and of a musical style developed therefrom. As Dr. Parry
has noted, Bach's early life was given up to the study of organ playing,
and hence the voice parts in his choruses follow the method of organ
counterpoint. His choruses are, therefore, not so broad and massive as
Handel's, but present a more scholarly and varied polyphony. "Where
Handel aimed at beauty of melodic form, Bach strove for characteristic
expression." Handel's counterpoint is the smooth, mellifluous, facile
counterpoint of the Italians; Bach's, seeking always to fit the musical
phrase to the immediate context, is severe, intricate, and evasive. Its
demands on the hearer present themselves as a series of numberless
details, demanding of him unusual closeness of attention and delicacy of
perception. Handel's melodic form and mass effects are easily
appreciable by the masses; Bach requires more attention than the masses
ever give, but he repays study with a revelation of great riches. To sum
up this part of the matter, Handel was Italian in his knowledge of how
to please, while Bach was German in his conscientiousness and
thoroughness.
The employment of the German chorale in Bach's Passion music was not
only the result of his adherence to established custom, but the outcome
of his life-long devotion to this characteristic embodiment of the
spirit of Protestant Germany. Bach treated the chorale melodies in many
of his works, such as his organ chorales and his motets, as the medieval
composers treated the _cantus firmus_, the liturgical chant. He used it
as the subject of a contrapuntal work, weaving around it a rich, yet
austere polyphony, which voiced the plain methods of the Protestant
Church as fully as the medieval counterpoint reflected in music the
artistic method pictorially embodied in Gothic architecture. It was
altogether natural and fitting that when he came to set the Passion he
should have used the chorale as the most complete and satisfying
exponent of the Protestant faith, for that was what it had come to be in
Germany. To this day the Lutheran hymn "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott"
is the battle-hymn of the German Protestant.
Bach lacked the impulse of the Italian to write tune for tune's sake.
Striving as he did "for characteristic expression," it was impossible
for him to reach a simple song-style in the solo parts of his Passion.
His recitative is too intricate, too detailed, and too thoughtful to
produce the broad declamatory effects of Handel's. The same assertion
may be made as to his airs. Bach's music always has a reflective quality
which robs it of the conventional dramatic appearance and stands as an
obstacle in the way of its immediate appreciation by a miscellaneous and
unprepared audience. There is nothing popular about Bach's music. He
never comes down from his elevation to meet the crowd. If you wish to
understand Bach you must climb up to his height, and that is never easy
to do.
Both the forms, that of Handel and that of Bach, have individuality and
distinct limitations. Bach's style, capable as it is of intense feeling,
is essentially intimate, personal, and undramatic. It is always the
voice of Bach in direct address to you that you hear. Handel's method is
productive of broad and imposing effects, and while it is frequently
only theatrical, it is quite as often sincerely and convincingly
dramatic. One of Handel's biographers says of his great choruses: "They
are choral recitatives, uttered by the voice of a multitude instead of a
man. And strangely enough, the path that led to this embodiment of the
composer's aspirations was the dusty path of Italian opera, where great
combinations were impossible, science all but wasted, and where a giant
intellect found little to grasp." Yet it is precisely the development of
Handel's oratorio style from his work as an Italian opera composer that
establishes its direct connection with the progress of the original
Italian school of oratorio founded in Rome. It was the outcome, the
climax, and the end of this school. Bach's Passion oratorios were the
product of a purely German and Protestant ancestry, and they, too, were
the highest achievement of their school. The subsequent history of
oratorio will show us how attempts were made to fuse the elements of the
two schools.