Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) – BWV 244: St Matthew Passion
Johann Sebastian Bach 31st March 1685 - 21st March 1750
Johann Sebastian Bach (aged 61) in a portrait by Elias Gottlob Haussmann, copy or second version of his 1746 canvas. The original painting hangs in the upstairs gallery of the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall) in Leipzig, Germany.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician.
The St Matthew Passion is a Passion, a sacred oratorio for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander.
It sets chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew (in the Luther Bible) to music, with interspersed chorales and arias. The original Latin title Passio Domini nostri J.C. secundum Evangelistam Matthæum translates to “The Passion of our Lord J[esus] C[hrist] according to the Evangelist Matthew”.
The St Matthew Passion is the second of two Passion settings by Bach that have survived in their entirety, the first being the St John Passion, first performed in 1724.
