BACH St. Matthew Passion complete (Part 1) ( 1/8 )

[301250]

thank you for this post....just into a few bars and i am already transported to another plane....excellent choir, simply sublime ....gloria in excelsis deo.

[sensual1211]

Fantastic. It's e-minor, but not sad. You can hear the victory and joy in it. The victory of Jesus.

He crushed death.

[wcbroccoli]

@sensual1211 You're applying late romantic aesthetics to early 18th c. music. They simply preferred the sound of a major 3rd ending.

The text has nothing to do with victory, joy or crushing death.

"Come, ye daughters, share my mourning,

....See him --- how? --- just like a lamb!"

The movement ends with "als wie ein Lamm" ("just like a lamb").

Like a lamb about to be slaughtered, not resurrected.

This work is the passion story, not the resurrection story.

[LazlosPlane]

@wcbroccoli Not so, entirely. The 17th and 18th century had it's own version of what we think of as a "Romantic" aesthetic. It was called the "Doctrine of Affections."

However, regarding major and minor, the major key was considered more "stable" and therefore more appropriate to ending pieces. (has to do with overtones, etc. etc. . . )

[tnix80]

@LazlosPlane the best ending to a great work ever was in mozart's requiem in d minor, IMO. I'm not a mozart fan but that piece is otherworldly. I love the minor key. Generally your rule seems to hold true though.

[sensual1211]

Fantastic

[Njakalahy]

Thank you so much for putting all 8 part in one spot. GOD bless. My father translated this work in Madagascar and is now widely sung every Holly Week. AWESOME WORK YOU ALL