Der Tod Jesu. Eine Cantate - Graun, Carl Heinrich 1704-1759; Ramler, Karl Wilhelm 1725-1798 (Leipzig Breitkopf, 1760)
Manuscript index
Der Tod Jesu (The Death of Jesus) is an oratorio libretto by Karl Wilhelm Ramler. The poem is part of the Empfindsamkeit movement of the 1750s.
After its premiere in 1755, it was performed annually on Good Friday until about 1880, when it was replaced by Bach's Mathew-passion.
Unlike Bach's Passions, Graun's setting does not imbue the tenor soloist with the role of narrator or Evangelist, nor is the bass cast as Vox Christi. The music is post-Baroque, an italianate galant style, and contains little counterpoint (notably in the duet, no. 17) or fugal movements (chorus no. 14 is a double fugue). Instead, it gives prominence to melody and voice. All arias are da capo arias with stylistic borrowings from opera arias. Grauner's recitative settings are highly expressive, culminating in the moving simplicity of the bass's recitative no. 23 on the death of Jesus, "Er ist nicht mehr!" (He is no more!). The last chorus starts quite powerfully, but then ebbs away into a mystical silence.
Ex Libris Kirchenmusik Esslingen (Stamp)
Keywords: 18th Century (1701-1800); Passion; Lute; Oratorio; Berlin (Germany)