Memory, Morals, and Contemplation in Leipzig Passion Texts from the 1720s: A New Perspective on J. S. Bach's <em>St. John Passion</em> from 1724

Abstract

Johann Sebastian Bach's settings of the passion originated in a cultural context that was rich with numerous forms of devotion to the Passion of Christ. The Good Friday Vespers, during which Bach's passions were originally performed, were only one occasion when Leipzigers commemorated the suffering and death of Christ. Devotional texts encouraged early modern Lutherans to meditate on the passion throughout their daily lives. The multifaceted and multisensory forms of passion devotion can be seen in a number of texts that were published in the years surrounding the first performance of the St. John Passion in 1724. After a short exploration of the circumstances of the endowment of the Good Friday Vespers at the Leipzig St. Nicholas Church and an analysis of a multisensory passion manual by Abraham Wiegner (Nöthige Freytags-Arbeit), the essay focuses on an anonymous text (Christliche und Moralische Reflexiones), published in 1724, that interprets the passion narrative from the perspective of practical morality. The text was prefaced by Leipzig Superintendent Salomon Deyling, who also preached the sermons during Bach's passion performances. Both the anonymous text and Deyling's preface bring into sharper relief the multifaceted forms of passion devotion in Leipzig during the time of the creation and first performance of Bach's major passions. The texts shed new light on the image-rich language of Bach's passions as well as on the focus on the individual in the libretti for his passions. But the analysis also shows significant differences. While Bach's passions emphasize personal devotion and a more internalized form of piety, the Christliche und Moralische Reflexiones are informed by Enlightenment philosophy and theology and view religion (and the passion in particular) as a model for a moral life. In spite of these differences, the texts also show that these divergent views coexisted peacefully in Bach's Leipzig. In fact, in the final version of Bach's St. John Passion from 1749, some of the texts were changed in a way that brought them in line with the views of Enlightenment theology.