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chorale cantata was supposed to accompany. Therefore, the idea of functional utility for
using chorale-based choruses to compliment the sermon seems to be negated. Second,
since the majority of the movements are like the first version, why did Bach not recycle
the 1724 parts as opposed to recopying parts for the 1725 version? One theory is that
Bach loaned the parts out, save four ripieno parts and a few other instrumental parts that
were duplicates, and found himself without them when it came time to prepare for a 1725
passion performance for Good Friday. 260
Version 3 – circa 1730
The third version of the St. John Passion is difficult to date, the years between
1728 and 1732 are customarily assigned to it. The hallmarks of this version are its return
to the elements of the initial 1724 version for movements 1, 19-20; the deletion of
movement 11+; the deletion of the final chorale; and the cutting of the St. Matthew
passages. 261 The removal of the verses from St. Matthew begs the question if church
authorities forced Bach to expunge the text, as most scholars believe. If so, Dürr raises
the quandary why he would have challenged this mandate by reinstating the text in his
1749 version? Had the climate changed that he felt at liberty to do so? 262
Two movements that were new to this third version, an aria and an instrumental
sinfonia, have not been recovered and considered lost since Bach removed them from the
fourth version (1749). 263 The first twelve movements (specifically to 12 b ) in version 3
match those in the first version. 264 However, version 3 diverges from the first version in
12 c when it stops after 31 measures with a cadence in B minor. 265 As already mentioned,
an aria, identified as 13 III but now lost, replaced the earlier movements of 13 and 13 II . 266
Scholars suggest that this could have been a tenor aria with string accompaniment and
continuo in a key that helps link the key structure of B minor in movement 12 c to the next
260
Daniel R. Melamed, “The Passions: Versions and Problems.” Goldberg 34 (June – August 2005):
http://www.goldbergweb.com (accessed August 2, 2007).
261
Dürr, Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion, 7.
262
Ibid.
263
Melamed, “Bach‟s St. John Passion: Can We Really Still Hear the Work – and
Which One?,” 235-252.
264
Dürr, Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion, 8.
265 Ibid.
266 Ibid.
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