Matthäus Passion

A Passion is a large‑scale sacred musical genre that sets the Gospel narrative of Christ’s suffering and crucifixion (the Passion) to music. It originated as liturgical chant and evolved into elaborate polyphonic and Baroque oratorio forms. Typical Baroque Passions feature an Evangelist (tenor narrator) who declaims the biblical text in recitative, solo roles for Jesus (Christus) and other characters, congregational-style chorales, reflective arias, and dramatic "turba" choruses representing the crowd. Earlier Renaissance Passions are often austere and predominantly choral, while Catholic traditions favored Latin and Protestant (especially Lutheran) Passions used vernacular German. Passions were historically performed during Holy Week, often in two parts surrounding a sermon, and are among the most revered monuments of Christian sacred music.