Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion: Day 3

The opening chorus of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion immediately presents the theme of Jesus’ human suffering and divine love as Jesus is described not only as the Bridegroom, a comparison used throughout Scripture, but also as a Lamb.

Kommt, ihr Tröchter, helft mir klagen, Sehet—Wen?—den Bräutigam, Seht ihn—Wie?—als wie ein Lamm!

Come, you Daughters [of Zion], help me lament; look—At whom?—at the Bridegroom; look at him—As how?—just like a lamb! (Marissen 29-30)

Christ’s divine love is evident as he is called the “Bridegroom”; who but a husband would suffer so much for his beloved? This divine “marriage” between Christ and the Church is a Scriptural comparison. As the chorus continues, it describes the Lamb as carrying his cross—an introduction to Jesus’ suffering. The Lamb himself is carrying his own sacrificial wood. The text here is a poetic introduction to the passion rather than the exact words of Scripture itself. At this point in the text—"just like a lamb!”—we find the first chorale: “Lamb of God, Pure and Holy” (LSB 434:1).

Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion: Day 2

Famed musical composer Andrew Lloyd Webber announced last week that he would be playing one of his musicals on his YouTube channel every Friday afternoon during the COVID-19 quarantine. The first musical up was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a dramatic and humorous take on the story of the Old Testament Joseph, son of Jacob, who was sold into slavery by his brothers, eventually rose to significance as Pharaoh’s right-hand man, and finally reunited with his brothers, granting them forgiveness for their cruelty. The movie is flashy, the songs are clever and catchy, the acting is comical, and the story is heartwarming.

Unfortunately, Andrew Lloyd Webber is no biblical scholar.

Comp. of the Week: April 6-10 (Holy Week) Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BWV 1046 - 1. Allegro

Do you remember what a “concerto” is? It is a musical piece in which one instrument, or a small group of instruments, get a special solo part and stands out front to play it. In Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, he chose a small group of instruments to play the special solo part. In this one, he composed the parts for two French horns (the best instrument in the orchestra), three oboes, and one bassoon. These instruments contrast with the string orchestra and harpsichord in many different combinations to create interesting music. Bach constantly changes the texture of the orchestra—the sound quality of the music—to create thicker and thinner textures as the piece goes on.

Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion: Day 1

“Erbarm dich unser, o Jesu!” “Have mercy on us, O Jesus!”

So ends the first chorale in Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. We know this chorale better as “Lamb of God, Pure and Holy” (LSB 434), and at Immanuel, we sing this every Good Friday. Like modern day Lutherans, Bach’s congregation at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany considered this a hymn in their repertoire. Indeed, Bach draws on the people’s knowledge of chorales to show a communal response to Christ’s suffering in the St. Matthew Passion.

The word “passion” in this case refers to its Latin root pati, meaing “suffering”. In the Christian Church, we follow the tradition of calling the period of Christ’s suffering and death his “Passion”. In music, a passion is, according to The Harvard Dictionary of Music, “a musical setting of Jesus’ sufferings and death as related by one of the four Evangelists”. Bach, then, is drawing on the account of Jesus’ suffering and death as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.

Hymn of the Week: April 6-10 (Holy Week) LSB 444: No Tramp of Soldiers’ Marching Feet

One can hardly keep from marching while singing “No Tramp of Soldiers’ Marching Feet”. The English tune KINGSFOLD fits the opening stanza well as the text details what did NOT happen when Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. There was NO tramp of soldiers’ marching feet, NO sound of music, NO bells, NO city gates swinging open. As this Palm Sunday hymn continues, the text tells us what DID happen, what it led to, and what the result is.

Comp. of the Week: March 30-April 3 Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 1 - 2. Gagliarda

Ottorino Respighi (Reh-SPEE-ghi) was a Romantic composer. Do you remember the words to the Romantic Era from our “Musical Timeline” song? “Romantic harmonies! Like those of Tchaikovsky, and Mendelssohn, Brahms, Holst, and Grieg, all shared their own stories. Ohhhhh, this is the Musical Timeline. It starts with the Early Age, then it’s Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical, Romantic, and not to forget the Modern Day!”

Ancient Airs and Dances are songs that were originally composed for the lute more than 300 years ago. The lute is an old string instrument, the ancestor of the guitar. Respighi took this ancient music and composed the songs for an entire orchestra. This is the second movement of Ancient Airs and Dances called “Gagliarda” (guy-YARD-uh). A gagliarda is an energetic dance in which the dancers leap around. Respighi starts the piece by composing a melody for strings that jumps around, just like the dancers might jump. In the middle, he introduces a much gentler, calmer section. It gives our ears—and the dancers!—time to rest. In the end, Respighi returns to his jumpy melody again. Can you tell when the first melody repeats again at the end?

Hymn of the Week: March 30-April 3 LSB 438: A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth

Written near the end of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) and in the midst of political tensions in Berlin, as leaders forsook Lutheranism for Calvinism, “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth” details the love of God the Father in offering his Son to die for our salvation. Paul Gerhardt, a well-known Lutheran hymn writer, gives us a descriptive picture of our Savior’s suffering on Good Friday in a way that also brings to mind the sufferings of the times in which he lived. Gerhardt points to our dependence on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our salvation.

This hymn is a Good Friday text. Notice the use of the word “Lamb” in stanza 1. We often hear Jesus called the “Lamb of God” (Agnus Dei, for all you Latin scholars out there). This first stanza, then, is detailing the suffering of Jesus. The text is taken from Isaiah 53: “Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (verse 7). The most striking aspect of this stanza is the way in which Jesus suffers all of this for us willingly and “without complaint”. Notice the use of the strong word “slaughter” instead of a word like “death”. In one way, it reminds us of the comparison of Jesus to a sacrificial lamb because we slaughter animals like lambs, but it is also a word that implies violence. Jesus did not merely die, he was mocked, spit upon, beaten, scourged, slaughtered.

Comp. of the Week—March 23-27 Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Deux arabesques, No. 2 Allegretto Scherzando

Claude Debussy (DEB-you-see) was a Romantic composer. Sing with me now: “Romantic harmonies! Like those of Tchaikovsky, and Mendelssohn, Brahms, Holst, and Grieg, all shared their own stories. Ohhhhh, this is the Musical Timeline. It starts with the Early Age, then it’s Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical, Romantic, and not to forget the Modern Day!”

“Deux arabesques” simply means “Two arabesques”, and this piece is the second one. We can call it more concisely “Arabesque No. 2”. An arabesque (air-a-BESK), according to Merriam-Webster, is “an elaborate or intricate pattern”. You can find arabesques in art, architecture, and ballet! Debussy takes the definition of arabesque and applies it to music. Notice the short groups of quick sounds and the movement and energy of the piece. Debussy creates heavier or lighter sounds by moving the notes lower or higher on the piano. It is almost like he is a painter creating darker and lighter colors.

This piece is played only on piano. Can you play along on your own silent piano while you listen to “Arabesque No. 2”?

Learn at Home Encouragement

“Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.” Psalm 50:15. Comfort found in Scripture is like balm to our wounded spirits in these perplexing days. It is likely that more questions than answers are floating around in our minds, and the uncertainty of the immediate future fuels anxiety. On top of it all, schools are now closed for the remainder of the year, leaving parents to facilitate the education of their child or children, many in multiple grades.

Perhaps you find yourself asking how you will adequately teach your children and not only that but continue to manage your own work! Although I cannot provide us all with a fool proof plan that yields instant results, I can point us to certainty. Where might we find certainty and truth in an undulating world of breaking news?

We need only to look to Scripture, first and foremost, where we may hear the life giving Words of our Good Shepherd. We likely feel terribly alone right now, not only because we are not physically present with one another, but also because new tasks have been handed to us, jobs we have never attempted to do before in uncharted territory! Nevertheless, God tells us in the familiar Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” As we all continue to live our lives, we might find rest in the assurance of God’s hand over us especially now in this dark time. We are, in fact, not alone! I know that I need a daily reminder of this eternal Truth. One thing my family has implemented into our daily schedule is a morning devotion. Beginning our day with Scripture reminds us what is of utmost importance, allowing us to rest in God’s grace the remainder of the day. How marvelous His grace is for our salvation!

Hymn of the Week—March 23-27 LSB 406 – To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord

If you have your hymnal, open to LSB 406 and check out that tine little word at the top right above the hymn number. “Mrs. Greenway,” you might say if you were a student, “it says ‘Epiphany’. Why are we singing an Epiphany hymn during Lent?”

Why, indeed.

“To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord” begins by retelling the story of Jesus’ own baptism by John in the Jordan. For this reason, it is classified as an Epiphany hymn, for we hear the story of Jesus’ baptism during the season of Epiphany. It is the first time in the Gospels that we see the adult Jesus out and about.