One of the most stunning arias in Bach‘s St. Matthew Passion is without a doubt Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben. This aria comes as a quiet interruption of the most intense part of Jesus’ trial before Pilate. The crowd is screaming for Jesus’ crucifixion, and Pilate, fearing a riot, gives them what they demand. In between two shouts of “crucify him”, comes the aria.

Even more stunning is the bizarre orchestration: flute and soprano dance together on two unique melodies, accompanied by two oboes da caccia (predecessor of the modern English horn) – basically a low-pitched oboe. The oboes, I should mention, are by no means low-pitched instruments, nor are they really well adapted at playing the part Bach wrote for them – a funny, pulsing sort of heartbeat.

Heard alone, the aria is so melancholy it hurts. Heard in context, between two loud shouts of “crucify him!”, it is as if Bach was able to pause time to illuminate a glimmer of love in a time of intense hatred.

As it is the most important week of the year for Christians, it’s no surprise that there is a ton of music out there written for Holy Week.

For me, there is no better music for this week than the St. Matthew Passion of Johann Sebastian Bach. I could easily write a blog post for every single movement in this oratorio; I will restrain myself, however, and just give you a few, and use as few words as possible (there’s so much to say, though!)

“Mache dich, mein Herze, rein” is an aria which is sung in the narrative after Jesus has died, and Joseph of Arimathea has taken his body and put it in his personal tomb. In typical baroque pietist fashion, the flowery poetry of the aria makes a metaphor of giving the personal space of one’s heart over to Christ. The music is a pastorale, drawing up images of Elysian fields, perfect pastures.

Hiawatha is an epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It’s lengthy, but worth the read; the mythic story is fascinating and the rhythm of the verse will put you in a trance.

Once again I return to Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. His three-part oratorio “The Song of Hiawatha” was such a hit in England that when it premiered, it was conducted by no less than C. V. Stanford, and attended by the great C. H. H. Parry and Arthur Sullivan, who practically had to be carried there because he was on his death-bed – but absolutely insisted on going to hear the performance. In the four years that followed, the work received over 200 performances in England alone.