A brief history of the Passion Oratorio.

As early as the 4^th Century the story of Jesus’ death was being recited dramatically and partially sung during Holy Week services. By the Middle Ages a number of conventions had been established (the Evangelist was sung by a tenor, and Christ by a baritone or bass with one voice per part in choruses where these existed).

Gradually composers developed the structure of the Passion Oratorio based on these conventions, reaching a peak of musicality and popularity during the Baroque period. Johann Sebastian Bach took the levels of drama and emotional intensity several steps further than his immediate predecessors such as Schutz by incorporating a complex and blatantly operatic style in his three Passion Oratorios. Following this peak, however, the Passion Oratorio fell out of fashion. Even Bach’s greatest choral work, the St. Matthew Passion sank into obscurity until it was resurrected by Felix Mendelssohn in 1829.

Even with the re-acceptance of Bach very few 19^th century composers felt inclined to follow his example. One of the few who did use Bach as an inspiration for writing his own Passion Oratorio was Carl Loewe. This work, written in 1847, has rarely been performed and it failed to spark a resurgence but it remains a powerful and moving rendition of the Easter story. The U.K. premiere of Loewe’s Passion Oratorio will actually take place on 31^st March this year (next Saturday) in Oxford Town Hall in a performance by Oxford Harmonic Society.

The 20^th century saw an improvement in the fortune of the Passion Oratorio as composers such as Penderecki with his St. Luke Passion brought a strong national flavour into the mix. This trend has continued into the current century with an increasing number of contemporary composers such as Gubaidulina and Golijov producing an eclectic mix of sounds fusing traditional classical styles with folk and a variety of other elements. The future of the Passion Oratorio looks bright indeed.