[55] Preface to the twentieth volume, first division, of the Bach-Gesellschaft.
[56] Vol. ii. pp. 335 ff.
[57] Vol. ii. pp. 338-346.
[58] Sometimes in Italy the oratorio was actually presented with all the scenic accessories of the opera, just as Liszt’s Saint Elisabeth was performed at Weimar, in 1881.
[59] The only change is by way of addition, namely, of two place from S. Matthew xxvi. 75, xxvii. 51, 52, to the distinct invigoration of the somewhat colourless narrative of the fourth Gospel.
[60] G. A. Macfarren, preface to Novello’s edition of the Passion, p. ii.
[61] In the interval it had apparently formed part of the Passion music written for 1725, of which indeed it remains the solitary relic. See above, p. [89].
[62] This idea had already suggested itself to Telemann, in his S. Mark Passion; and before him it had been used by Heinrich Schuetz in his Seven Words. Another method had been to give Christ’s words to a chorus, as though too great for any single voice: Spitta, vol. ii. pp. 374 f.
[63] The smaller masses are in G major and minor, A, and F; the two former are simple adaptations of pieces from the church cantatas. All are of later composition than the S. Matthew Passion; those in G and A apparently dating from about 1737. The four Masses are printed in the eighth volume of the Bach-Gesellschaft. A Christe eleison in C minor and four Sanctuses (B.-G. xi. pt. 1) complete the list of Bach’s Latin works.
[64] As already mentioned, p. 65, the Kyrie and Gloria of the High Mass were written for Dresden and dedicated to the king on the 27th of July, 1733; the Credo may have been composed for use at Leipzig even a year or two earlier. The completion of the whole cannot be fixed later than 1738.