Theologians, biblical scholars, academics, and musicians have looked at St. John's gospel and been confronted by its harsh portrayal of the Jews. In a two-part series, we will look at the texts in historical context and look at how Bach inserted his own message into this masterpiece.
Singer Pat Jennerjohn expands her scope beyond the program notes to this series of blog posts.
Translations and Transmutations, Part II
Even for those of us who treasure it, the St. John Passion, as Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker magazine back in 2017, “remains a little frightening.” Robert Shaw, a secular humanist who loved this work and performed it throughout his career, summed up the plight of Bach music lovers in 1995: “Many of us never will cease to be embarrassed by its occasional vehement-to-vicious racial attribution regarding the Crucifixion of Jesus. There can be no doubt that its traditional text has added to the waves of anti-Semitism for generations and centuries since its composition.”
We suggested in our previous blog that a great deal of the harm from that traditional text was caused by possibly questionable translations (into modern languages from an old form of Greek) of the term hoi loudaioi, which did not necessarily mean “all Jewish people” but rather the specific groups that were opposing Jesus (the high priests and other leaders of the community).
And it is probably not correct to say that the St. John Passion itself was an intentional vehicle of anti-Semitism at the time of its composition. Yet, as suggested by the musicologist Michael Marissen in his lectures, the “St. John problem” has become ever more troubling in the decades since World War II and the Holocaust. With the horrible potential latent anti-Semitism ever more apparent, any performance or hearing of this work must be cause for sober reflection, not mere mindless pleasure.
Tom Hall writes on the ChorusAmerica blog, back on April 20 of 2011: “People should understand that, from a Jewish perspective, the Passions have very strong emotional consequences. To ignore that fact is to put your head in the sand. Performers should be sensitive about these issues.
“Performances of the Bach Passions can be an occasion to understand the differences in perspective on this text and on this music, from Christian and Jewish points of view. Performances can be used to bring people together and to understand the history of anti-Semitism and to promote religious tolerance.
“You can also make the case that Bach’s musical choices in both Passions go a long way toward opposing the argument that the Jews killed Jesus. In the chorales and the arias that surround the biblical text, Bach consistently brings the responsibility for Jesus’ death back on the community of sinners—which includes everyone. Where do Pilate and the Roman authorities fit into this story? How is our understanding of the story informed by the events in history in which this story has been used to justify violence towards Jews? These questions must be grappled with.”
Michael Marissen notes in his book Bach & God (2016), “Bach moves the focus away from the perfidy of ‘the Jews’ and onto the sins of Christian believers.”
Therefore, we can view this Passion as being a skillfully assembled reflection and sermon upon a central Lutheran theological premise—that the inherent nature of mankind is sinful, and the redemption of mankind could only be achieved by the sacrifice of Jesus’ life (and of course, the triumphant Resurrection that also denies the power of death). If this is the premise, then anyone involved in these events actually had a sacred role to play in order to bring about this redemption. The chorale settings and arias wrap the harsh narrative with constant reminders that this is really about all of humanity.
For example, a chorale setting early in the work asks Jesus, “Who has struck you so?”. The second verse answers, “Ich, ich und meine Sünden”: “I” (a member of humanity) “I and my sins.” Subsequent chorales continue to reflect the reactions of this collective “I” upon the narrative as it unfolds.
The arias represent the individual human soul, its myriad reactions to this suffering and death, and the transmutation of these trials into spiritual triumph, tempered with grief at the end.
James Oestreich, in a New York Times review of a performance in 2017, observes that “the work as a whole moves in an epic arc from turmoil to profound fellow-feeling and consolation, from inhumanity for the sake of effect, as it were, to a humanity deeply felt and registered.”
Patricia Jennerjohn
This is an extensively discussed topic with many resources to tap. In addition to my own thoughts and observations, my particular sources were:
Michael Marissen: Bach & God (2016)
New York Times concert review, James R. Oestreich, April 14, 2017
Tom Hall, ChorusAmerica blog, April 20, 2011