Scan 79
The American history and encyclopedia of music, 1908
2 lines. Read by computer on 9 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1its arias. Among the most lovely and touching is the soprano aria, "Bleed and break, Thou loving heart," in which the perfidy of the deed of Judas is commented upon; the tenor solo and chorus, "I would beside my Lord be watching;" the alto aria, "Have mercy, Lord on me;" whose violin accompaniment exceeds in expressiveness even the voice part; the deeply pathetic soprano aria, "In love, my Savior now is dying." Nowhere else has recitative been used with greater, we are inclined to say with equal effect. These recitatives are marvelously dramatic, and as some one says: "Always the exact musical equivalent of the narrative." Those of Christ and the Evangelist are pre-eminently expressive, more in arioso are the interspersed recitatives of which "O Blessed Savior" (alto); "Although both heart and eyes o'erflow;" "The Savior low, before His Father bending" (bass); and "Now the Lord to rest is laid" (bass), are especially impressive. In the beautiful song "At evening, hour of calm and rest," Spitta finds one of the first instances in which a romantic feeling for nature is visible in music.
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