Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Bach: St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244

Over the last few months, I've been listening to Bach's St. Matthew Passion with some regularity.  When I listened to it a couple weeks ago, I noticed something about the Words of Institution, specifically "Trinket Alle daraus":


(notation found here)

In English, this section is rendered as "Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood."  In the German, there's a melisma for "Alle."  Because it's sung to a variety of pitches, there's something of a musical representation of the breadth of that "all."