St Mark Passion (Bach)

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The St Mark Passion (German: Markuspassion), BWV 247, is a lost passion setting by J S Bach. Though Bach's music is lost, the libretto by Picander is still extant, and from this, the work can in some degree be reconstructed. Unlike Bach's other two passions, the Markuspassion is probably a parody—it recycles movements from other pre-existing works. The St Mark Passion seems to reuse virtually the whole of the Trauer Ode (BWV 198) along with the two arias from BWV 54. In addition, two choruses from the Markus where reused in the Christmas Oratorio. This leaves only a couple of arias missing, which are taken from other Bach works when reconstructions are attempted. However, since Bach's recitative is lost, most reconstructions use the recit composed for a Mark passion by Reinhard Keiser, a work which Bach himself performed on at least two occasions, which gives a certain authenticity to things, although it could be viewed as somewhat disrespectful to Keiser's work. However, Keiser's setting starts slightly later than Bach's, which requires a small amount of composition on the the part of the reconstructor. Ton Koopman, however, takes a different approach in his version. He takes various choruses and arias from Bach's works and freely composes his own recit.

Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Mark Passion was first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday, March 23, 1731. Written under the pseudonym Picander, Christian Friedrich Henrici's (1700-1764) libretto survives in a 1732 poetry collection. The Markuspassion is a modest setting, adding to Mark chapters 14 and 15 only eight free verse arias and 16 hymn stanzas. The chorales assume greater weight due to their higher proportional use: 16 of the 46 movements are chorales in the St. Mark Passion, whereas only 13 of 68 are chorales in the St. Matthew Passion. Five of the Markuspassion texts appear to match the 1727 Trauer Ode, BWV 198, and other likely parodies include BWV 54 and 120a. However, no musical material remains for the Gospel texts or turba choruses. Further, no knowledge which keys and orchestration which Bach used exists; while the libretto specifies which chorale melodies were used, the harmonizations which Bach employed remain uncertain.

Several reconstructions exist. Andor Gomme edited a 1997 reconstruction published by Bärenreiter that utilizes BWV 198 and choruses from BWV 204, 216, 120a, and 54. The recitatives and turba choruses are drawn from Reinhard Keiser's (1674-1739) St. Mark Passion, which Bach himself adapted for use in Weimar in 1713.

Diethard Hellman completed a reconstruction in 1964 based on parodies and chorale harmonization choices only. A 1976 edition includes additional choruses to be used with a spoken delivery of the gospel text. Carus-Verlag published Hellman's work with newly composed recitatives and arias by Johannes Koch in 1999. The orchestration for the work matches that of BWV 198.

In 1999, Ton Koopman presented a recontruction that does not utilize BWV 198, but instead draws on BWV 25 (opening chorus) and BWV 179 (turba choruses).

[edit] Further reading

Bärenreiter. “St. Mark Passion BWV 247.” www.baerenreiter.com
Butt, John. “Reconstructing Bach.” Early Music. November 1998, 673-675.
Carus-Verlag. “Markuspassion.” www.carus-verlag.com
Neuman, Werner. Sämtliche von Johann Sebastian Bach veronte Texte. Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 1974.
Melamed, Daniel R. Hearing Bach’s Passions. “Parody and Reconstruction: the Saint Mark Passion BWV 247.” New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Terry, Charles Sanford. Bach: The Cantatas and Oratorios, the Passions, the Magnificat, Lutheran Masses, and Motets. Five volumes in one. New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1972.
Theill, Gustav Adolf. Die Markuspassion von Joh. Seb. Bach (BWV 247). Steinfeld : Salvator, 1978.
Ton Koopman. “Research.” www.tonkoopman.nl