Passion

A Passion is a musical setting of the Gospel account of Christ's suffering and crucifixion, performed in Holy Week, in which an Evangelist narrates the text in recitative while soloists take the words of Jesus, Pilate and others, and the chorus plays the crowd, interspersed with reflective arias and congregational chorales. Rooted in medieval liturgical chant, the form reached its summit in Lutheran Germany with *Schütz* and *Bach*, whose "Matthäus-Passion" and "Johannes-Passion" remain its defining works. The genre was revived in the 20th century by composers including *Penderecki* and *Arvo Pärt*.