In his St. John Passion, Johann Sebastian Bach assigned an evangelist to sing the text from the Bible in recitative, while soloists perform the spoken parts of Jesus Christ and other biblical characters to drive the narrative forward. As each section of the script draws to a close, Bach inserts ariosos and arias, on the one hand allowing soloists to offer commentary on the action, explaining the significance of the previous section, but also allowing the singers to act as representatives of the devout and convey a wide range of emotions.
In the first half of Part One, Bach composes an aria for alto “Von den Stricken meiner Sunden” (“To release me from the knots of my sins”). This line was taken from the text of a popular Passion script written by the German poet Barthold Heinrich Brockes, and describes how Christ was physically bound to enable us to be liberated from the knots of our sins, cleverly conveying different meanings of the German root “binden.” Bach set this aria in the melancholy key of d minor, accompanying the alto with two oboes, to express the profound meaning of the text and to represent the audience’s reflection on the events before them.
As the narrative approaches the familiar episode of Peter’s denial of Christ, Bach composes an aria for soprano “Ich folge dir gleichfalls mit freudigen Schritten” (“I will follow you likewise with joyful steps”). Two flutes play a light, sprightly Baroque dance in 3/8 time before the soprano joins in, representing the word “follow” by the melodic lines composed in a canon-like contrapuntal techinique.
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照片：維基共享資源
The innocence, courage and self-assurance of this aria stands in stark contrast to Peter’s denial in the following passage, at his remorse after the cock crows when he recalls Christ’s premonition of his betrayal. The aria “Ach, mein Sin” (“Oh, my soul”) was adapted from the poem Der weinende Petrus (The Weeping Peter) by German Baroque poet Christian Weise. Here, Bach brings in all string instruments to convey the strong emotional tension. The continuous use of dotted notes brings a strong sense of remorse to the music, and the rare use of F# minor enhances the sense of grief.
In Part II, Bach details the inner conflicts and psychological struggle of the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, where he scrupulously interrogates Christ before finally asking himself: “Was ist Wahrheit?” (What is truth?), and music comes to a halt as if in contemplation.
Following the intense trial scene, the aria “Erwage, wie sein blutgefarbter Rucken” (“Consider, that his blood-bespattered body [is a part of Heaven above]”) comes in the center of the whole piece. The aria, written in c minor for tenor, is quite long and technically extremely demanding. The tenor is accompanied by two Violas d’amore, with their rich and relatively deep tone.
Theologians through history have often regarded the Gospel of St. John as progressing, pendulum like, from a high to low point, and then back up again. The low point, naturally, is Christ’s crucifixion. Bach sought to express this concept through the music: the lowest point is the point from which the pendulum starts to swing back. In the second half of this aria, located in the middle of the piece, the composer makes reference to the Great Flood and the rainbow, which represents the covenant God made with Noah. The rainbow shape that appears on the score can be seen as the pious Bach’s attempt to convey a message to the audience through the story of the Passion.
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
在《聖約翰受難曲》中，巴赫安排一位福音史家，以宣敘調的方式演唱聖經的文字，擔任獨唱的聲樂家則唱出耶穌和其他聖經角色的話語，推動故事向前進行。當一段劇情暫告一個段落時，巴赫會插入詠敘調和詠嘆調，一方面讓獨唱聲樂家提供評論，解釋前一段劇情的深義，同時也使他們成為信徒的代表，表現出廣闊的情緒向度。
在第一部前半段，巴赫寫下一首女低音詠嘆調「為了讓我擺脫罪的枷鎖（，我的拯救者遭受捆綁）」。這段歌詞出自當時德國詩人布洛克斯深受歡迎的受難劇本，解釋耶穌實際遭到「綑綁」（bound），是為了讓我們從罪惡的「枷鎖」中獲得釋放，巧妙地藉由同一個德文字根「binden」傳達多重意義。巴赫以悲傷的d小調譜寫這段音樂，加入蕭瑟的雙簧管搭配女低音，既解釋情節深義，也呈現信眾反思。
待故事進入為人熟知的聖經情節「彼得不認主」之前，巴赫寫下一段女高音的詠嘆調：「踏著歡愉的腳步，我會同樣追隨著你」。兩把長笛演奏著天真爛漫的3/8拍巴洛克舞曲風格，先演奏一次旋律，再加入女高音，呈現出「卡農」式多聲部互相「追隨」的對位技法。
這首詠嘆調呈現出的天真、勇氣與自信，深刻反襯下一段故事中彼得不認耶穌，聽到雞鳴後想起耶穌預言的悔恨。詠嘆調「啊，我的靈魂」改寫自德國巴洛克詩人克里斯提安‧懷瑟的詩作〈哭泣的彼得〉。巴赫在此動用所有弦樂器，傳達出強烈的情感張力。持續出現的附點音符，讓音樂帶有悔恨感，罕見的升f小調更增強憂傷的情緒。
在第二部中，巴赫花了相當多的篇幅，鋪陳羅馬帝國總督彼拉多的內心衝突和心理掙扎，他仔細地訊問耶穌，最後卻只能自問：「真理是什麼？」，音樂在此落入寂靜。
位於整部作品中心的詠嘆調，出現在激烈的審判場景後。巴赫在此寫下一段篇幅較長、演唱技巧極為困難的男高音詠嘆調：「讓我們深思此事（，耶穌血跡斑斑的軀體是天國的一部分）」。在深沉的c小調中，男高音搭配著兩把音色柔美、但音域較低的巴洛克中提琴。
歷來的神學家，經常將《約翰福音》的敘事方向視為一個從高處向下墜落，再回到高點的鐘擺形，最低點自然是耶穌受難。巴赫試圖藉由音樂再現出此概念──鐘擺的最低點，也是向上的起點。位於整部作品中心的這首詠嘆調，在後半段召喚出洪水與彩虹的意象，彩虹正是上帝曾和諾亞訂立的誓約。在作品的中心立下一道彩虹，可說是虔誠的巴赫企圖藉由受難敘事給予聽眾的訊息。
（台北時報章厚明撰）
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