The Beauty and the Challenges of Bach’s St. John Passion

At Easter time choruses often program a musical setting of the Passion—the story of Jesus’ suffering and death. The two settings that are the most performed are J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion. So stunningly beautiful is the music, that it’s easy to overlook the words. Portions of the text, taken in part from the gospel account and sung in German, are heard by many as blatantly anti-Semitic—in particular, choruses in St. John, whose tone is considerably more angry and vitriolic toward the Jews as a group, than the tone found in the other three gospels.

What is our responsibility as singers and as choruses when historic choral works could be considered offensive, or even hostile, to a whole group of people?

One choice is simply to refuse to perform it. Another is to change the words to soften their impact. Still another is to perform the work without comment. A fourth alternative is to perform the Passions along with various perspectives on the historical context of the Gospels and on Bach’s music.

This is the approach that the San Francisco Bach Choir will take in its spring performances of Bach’s St. John Passion. In a variety of articles, discussions, program notes, and conversations within the choir we continue to explore the context in which Bach wrote this work in the 1720s, the context in which it sits now (especially given world events), and how to engage with the work today.

Bach’s St. John Passion presents many challenges in addition to its stunning beauty. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to our audiences not to avoid those challenges as we also embrace its beauty. Our hope is that in this way, we can begin to build bridges and to heal divisions in our community.

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