The German composer Carl Heinrich Graun (1704-1759) is considered the most important German composer of Italian opera of his time. Graun studied voice, organ, and composition at the Kreuzschule in Dresden. In 1724, he came to Brunswick as an opera singer and was soon appointed sub-bandmaster and composer. In Brunswick he met Frederick the Great, who was impressed by his work performed at the wedding of the Crown Prince and Elisabeth Christine in 1733. When he became king, Frederick the Great appointed him Kapellmeister of the newly built opera house in Berlin (now Unter den Linden) in 1740. Graun was also sent to Italy to recruit singers. He lived and worked in Berlin until his death. Graun wrote six operas for Brunswick and 26 operas for Berlin. His other works include concertos and trio sonatas. Among his religious works, his oratorio Der Tod Jesu was extremely popular in the 18th and part of the 19th century. He was known for his particularly good text-setting, probably due to his background as a singer.
The text of Der Tod Jesu is by Carl Wilhelm Ramler, written at the behest of Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia, the King's sister. This text was set almost simultaneously by Graun and Telemann. Telemann represents the North German, late-Baroque tradition with all its complexity and love of structure and color. Graun, influenced by Italian opera, chose the path of lyricism and spontaneous melodies, using the harmonic language that had emerged from classicism.
The text is considered a work of the era of sensitivity in the Age of Enlightenment. Ramler's text is not a complete retelling of the Passion of Christ and does not quote any biblical texts. The story of the Passion is interpreted in a commentary and emotional highlights and aspects of the Passion are presented, so that the work was considered a "sensitive lyric oratorio" by contemporaries.
Unlike Bach's passions, Graun's has no dialogue or individual characters in the action. He does not entrust the tenor soloist with the role of narrator or evangelist and the bass with the Vox Christi. The music is written in the Italian gallant style and contains only small contrapuntal approaches. The soloists take turns or sing together in a duet to freely recount an episode from the Passion in a recitative. This is followed by an aria, a poetic reflection on the event, and then the choir's response, crowned by a chorale that the entire congregation can sing during the service. Carl Heinrich Graun wrote the chorales in a simple four-part homophonic setting. Influenced by Italian opera, the composer gives the melody and the voice plenty of space. All arias are performed da capo, with stylistic borrowings from his opera arias. Graun's recitatives are highly expressive, culminating in the moving simplicity of the bass recitative no. 23 on the death of Jesus: "He is no more!". The final chorus, which begins powerfully, ends in mystical silence.
In the second half of the 18th century, Graun's Death of Jesus was performed annually in many German cities (e.g. every Good Friday in Berlin by the Berlin Sing-Akademie), as well as abroad. The work was not replaced until the 19th century by Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and disappeared from concert programs toward the end of the century. It was largely forgotten for about a hundred years. The work was rediscovered in the 21st century.
The Passion oratorio consist of the following 25 movements:
- Choral – Du, dessen Augen flossen
- Chorus – Sein Odem ist schwach
- Accompagnato-Rezitativ (Sopran) – Gethsemane! Gethsemane!
- Arie (Sopran) – Du Held, auf den die Köcher
- Choral – Wen hab’ ich sonst als dich allein
- Rezitativ (Sopran) – Ach mein Immanuel!
- Arie (Sopran) – Ein Gebet um neue Stärke
- Rezitativ (Tenor) – Nun klingen Waffen
- Arie (Tenor) – Ihr weichgeschaffnen Seelen
- Chorus – Unsre Seele ist gebeuget
- Choral – Ich will von meiner Missetat
- Rezitativ (Bass) – Jerusalem, voll Mordlust
- Arie (Bass) – So stehet ein Berg Gottes
- Chorus – Christus hat uns ein Vorbild gelassen
- Choral – Ich werde dir zu Ehren alles wagen
- Rezitativ (Sopran) – Da steht der traurige, verhängnisvolle Pfahl
- Duett (Soprane) – Feinde, die ihr mich betrübt
- Rezitativ (Sopran) – Wer ist der Heilige, zum Muster uns verliehn
- Arie (Sopran) – Singt dem göttlichen Propheten
- Chorus – Freuet euch alle, ihr Frommen
- Choral – Wie herrlich ist die neue Welt
- Rezitativ (Bass) – Auf einmal fällt der aufgehaltne Schmerz
- Accompagnato-Rezitativ (Bass) – Es steigen Seraphim
- Choral (mit Bass solo) – Ihr Augen, weint!
- Chorus – Hier liegen wir gerührte Sünder
A copy of the original German text.
Listen to: Karlsruher Barockorchester & Durlacher Kantorei, conducted by Johannes Blomenkamp.
[Includes a translated and edited version of the text from the German Wikipedia article on the subject]
Choral Masterworks