This week we are also learning about Passions, which are musical settings of the suffering and Crucifixion of Christ. This came as a result of Bach really creating what are called Passions with his works, “Passion according to St. Matthew” and “Passion according to St. John.” He was one of the few to give a musical treatment to the suffering of Jesus Christ. Bach’s musical creativity really shines in his Passion’s as he is able to really highlight and tell the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus in a very eloquent and moving way. Another thing Bach has done with his Passion’s is he is once again showing his passion (no pun intended) for creating music that serves God and will be used in church to teach about the suffering of Jesus.
Then we started looking at questions about if we made our own Passion, where would we start and end, how should the music sound, and do we include text or paraphrase from the Bible? Well to answer where to start I would personally start it at the Last Supper, to give people a little more context that may not know the story going in to understand what is going on. Then I would end after the Resurrection of Jesus as I personally do not think the story of Jesus’s Crucifixion is complete until after the Resurrection. Now for the music it would have to be more somber in tone and played in a minor key, but maybe the Resurrection part should be a more happy and celebratory piece played in a higher key and thus the music ends on a good note. Lastly I would include some text from the Bible and maybe paraphrase a little to fit the music to add that element into the piece and create a piece overall that better represents the story that comes directly from the Bible. As we discussed these things we talked about examples such as films and other Passion’s that depict the Crucifixion of Jesus and compared and talked about some of the differences and why certain things were done. We also focused on the music that used in certain scenes of the film and if they fit the film and what it was trying to tell or not. Another thing about the film that have been made about Jesus’s Crucifixion is that there are many different ways in which to tell the same story and they allow for different perspectives to be used and for the audience to get something different out of each film as well as the emotion each film invokes with the use of the music they selected.