Week 4 - The Notre Dame Folk Choir’s Passion Project
When we talk about the Passion, we’re first and foremost referring to the last days of Jesus’s life, from the Last Supper through his death on the cross. The story of Jesus’s Passion has captivated musicians for centuries, from the earliest chanted melodies of scripture to "Jesus Christ Superstar." What is it about the Passion that artists have been trying to uncover all this time? This week, we’ll learn a bit more about the development of the Passion in sacred music and discuss the Folk Choir’s Passion Project.
What exactly is a Passion?
Presented by J.J. Wright
In this video, we’ll take a quick survey of the Passion, covering the first iteration in scripture and the way this form developed through sacred music.
The Folk Choir’s Passion Project
Presented by J.J. Wright
Written by Tristan Cooley
Our objective has been to write a Passion through collaborative effort. Understanding the history the Passion plays as a communal expression of faith, and one that develops that faith through engagement with our collective memory, understanding, and will, we have for the last year and a half been forming the necessary tools required to build “our” Passion. We recognize that to grow as a Church, we must operate as one healthy body in Christ. Of course, the body has many members, all distinct, but all of which constitute one body. So it is with our Passion. Working in teams, both small and large, we assembled the skeletal system of the piece — in this case compiled Scripture from the four Passion narratives. This formed the outline of our Passion, the “bones.”
This Passion is a collective effort, in every sense of the phrase. In large groups, in small groups, through discussion and conversation, we have collaborated in the creation of each part of this piece. What guides our process is a shared notion of accountability to one another, a notion which also permeates the Passion narratives themselves. Who is responsible for the events of Christ’s Passion?
Well, who isn’t?
This is to say that any meaningful point of departure for rendering the Passion through sacred art must acknowledge the responsibility believers have both for Christ’s sacrifice, and to the memory of His sacrifice. Our work is, therefore, a daily invitation to deepen and enrich our memories, and in doing so offer them up in community through song.
Listening Example 1
Presented by J.J. Wright
J.S. Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion,” one of the great masterpieces of sacred music, was assembled with the greatest care for narrative logic and musical clarity. Bach sets the stage for what’s to come in the opening movement with two choirs, two orchestras, and a children’s choir. In this movement, Bach helps us understand our own role in the Passion through a clever musical and textual interrogation.
Erster Teil
- Chor I & II & Choral
(Töchter Zion und Gläubige Seelen)
Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen,
Sehet! – Wen? – den Bräutigam!
Seht ihn! – Wie? – als wie ein Lamm.
Sehet! – Was? – seht die Geduld,
Seht! – Wohin? – auf unsre Schuld.
Sehet ihn aus Lieb und Huld
Holz zum Kreuze selber tragen.
O Lamm Gottes unschuldig,
Am Stamm des Kreuzes geschlachtet,
Allzeit erfunden geduldig,
Wiewohl du warest verachtet.
All Sünd hast du getragen,
Sonst müßten wir verzagen.
Erbarm dich unser, o Jesu.
Part One
- Chorus I & II and Chorale
(Daughters of Zion and Faithful Souls)
Come, daughters, help me lament,
behold! – Whom? – the Bridegroom!
Behold him! – How? – as a Lamb.
Behold! – What? – behold the patience,
look! – where? – at our guilt.
See him, out of love and graciousness
bear the wood for the Cross Himself.
O innocent Lamb of God,
slaughtered on the trunk of the Cross,
patient at all times,
however you were scorned.
you have borne all sins,
otherwise we would have to despair.
Have mercy on us, o Jesus.
Listening Example 2
Presented by J.J. Wright
This is a first draft of the song from the footwashing scene from the Passion Project. As you can tell, many of the instruments are just samples, but this is a good example of the process for creating a large scale piece of sacred music.
Footwashing Song – J.J. Wright/Tristan Cooley
After tonight,
I’ll stay with you.
Just hold me closer.
Last night with you,
Always with you.
Will always seem,
Please hold me close,
Closer to dream
There, before my very eyes,
Changing to a memory.
Do this as I’ve done this unto you.
He loved His own
Until the end
Remember me
What we’ve been through,
Been through so much.
I can’t let go,
Time to let go.
Hold on to me,
Remember me.
How could I deserve to be,
Washed in your embrace of me.
Do this as I’ve done for each of you.
We will listen to the example during the live session and it will be available here afterward.
View the Event
Presented by J.J. Wright
Subscribe to the ThinkND podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Google.
Featured Speakers:
- J.J. Wright ’14, Director, Notre Dame Folk Choir
- Tristan Cooley, Librettist for The Passion
- Students from the Notre Dame Folk Choir