The St John Passion (in German: Johannes-Passion), BWV 245, is a sacred oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach. The original Latin title Passio secundum Johannem translates to "The Suffering According to John". During the first winter that Bach was responsible for church music at the St. Thomas Church and the St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig, he composed the St John Passion for the Good Friday Vespers service of 1724.
The St John Passion is a dramatic representation of the Passion, as told in the Gospel of John, constructed of dramatically presented recitatives and choruses, commented by reflective chorales, ariosos, and arias, framed by an opening chorus and a final one, followed by a last chorale. Compared with the St Matthew Passion, the St John Passion has been described as more extravagant, with an expressive immediacy, at times more unbridled and less "finished."
Of Bach's Passions, it is the oldest extant work, followed by the St Matthew Passion. A St Mark Passion was reconstructed, older Passions may be lost.
Read more about St John Passion: First Performance, Architecture and Sources, Scoring, Versions, Congregational Use, Popular Sections, Criticism, Recordings, Further Reading
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