Bach - St John Passion (1725 version) BWV 245 - Jacobs | Netherlands Bach Society

One year after its first performance, the St John Passion was performed again on 30 March 1725. For this quick reprise, Bach made some fundamental changes to the piece. He wrote a new opening chorus: ‘O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groβ’, which he also used later in the St Matthew Passion. He replaced the closing chorale with ‘Christe, du Lamm Gottes’, which he had written earlier. The vehement ‘Zerschmettert mich’ took the place of ‘Ach mein Sinn’, and instead of ‘Betrachte meine Seel’ and ‘Erwäge’ he wrote the aria ‘Ach windet euch nicht so’. He also wrote a third new aria: ‘Himmel reiβe’. The masterly new opening transformed the whole Passion into a more subdued piece. The new ending, too, is a call for compassion. During the corona crisis in 2021 – when the Netherlands Bach Society’s annual tour of the St Matthew Passion could not take place – conductor René Jacobs deliberately opted to perform this version instead. This recording was made by Dutch broadcaster NTR on Ma