SEMNIFICAȚIE ȘI SIMBOL ÎN CORALUL „ERKENNE MICH, MEIN HÜTER” DIN „MATTHÄUSPASSION” DE J. S. BACH
MEANING AND SYMBOL IN „ERKENNE MICH, MEIN HÜTER” CHORAL FROM „MATTHÄUSPASSION” BY J. S. BACH

Summary/Abstract: Baroque emerged in Western Europe approx. in the period of 1600–1750 as a style of contrasts, exuberant detail, symmetry and deep colours. Religious austerity makes way to a more open and permissive style. In Baroque, the choral writing appears both in oratorios, cantatas, and masses and in opera. The oratorio appeared in the 16th century in Italy and it shares a common origin with opera. The Baroque oratorio has a predominantly religious theme, a subject and characters. The themes explored are usually drawn from either the Old or the New Testament. Those treating Christ’s suffering are called Passion. The two best-known Passions were composed by J. S. Bach based on the gospels of Matthew and John. Chorales play an important part in the Passions, with some of them being picked by Bach from songs of the Lutheran congregation of his time. Matthäuspassion was first played on Black Friday in 1729 in the Thomas church from Leipzig. The Erkenne mich, mein Hüter choral uses a quote from Hans Leo Hassler. In Bach’s oratorio, this choral has five versions, in different tonalities and harmonies. In trying to explain the composer’s reasoning for the five versions of the choral, we can argue the following: in essence, the music stays the same; it’s the text and the different harmonizations that makes the difference. The meaning of each version can be summed up as follows: I. Contact with divinity, II. Wish for cleansing, III. Choosing the path to follow, IV. Pain caused by suffering, V. Hope for absolution.

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