accompanied by the chorus exclaiming in short, hurried phrases,
"Let Him go! Hold! Bind Him not!" until at last the double chorus bursts
in like a tempest, accompanied with the full power of the instruments,
expressing the world's indignation at the deed which is to be committed,
in the words:--

"Ye lightnings, ye thunders, in clouds are ye vanished!
Burst open, O fierce flaming caverns of hell!
Ingulf them, destroy them in wrathfullest mood!
Oh, blast the betrayer, the murderous brood!"

and the first part concludes with a chorale, "O Man, bewail thy great
Sin!"

The second part, originally sung after the sermon, opens with an aria for
contralto, full of the deepest feeling, "Alas! now is my Jesus gone," and
one of the most beautiful numbers in the oratorio, wherein Zion, or the
Church, mourns her great loss. The trial scene before Caiaphas and the
threefold denial of Peter follow, leading up to the beautiful aria for
alto, with violin obligato, "Oh, pardon me, my God!" Macfarren, in his
admirable analysis, says of this aria,--

"The deep, deep grief of a tormented conscience finds here an utterance
which fulfils the purport and far transcends the expression of the
words. One might suppose the power of the artist to have been
concentrated upon this one incident, so infinite is its beauty,--one
might suppose Bach to have regarded the situation it illustrates as
more significant than others of man's relation to Deity in his sense of
sin and need for mercy, and as requiring, therefore, peculiar
prominence in the total impression the oratorio should convey. If this
was his aim, it is all accomplished. The penitential feeling embodied
in the song is that which will longest linger in a remembrance of the
work. The soft tone of the contralto voice, and the keenness of that of
the violin, are accessories to the effect which the master well knew
how to handle; but these judicious means are little to be considered in
comparison with the musical idea of which they are the adjuncts."

The work now rapidly progresses to its beautiful finale. The soprano
recitative in response to Pilate's question, "He hath done only good to
all," the aria for soprano, "From love unbounded," the powerful contralto
recitative, "Look down, O God," the chorale, "O Head all bruised and
wounded!" the contralto aria with chorus, "Look where Jesus beckoning
stands," and the peaceful, soothing recitative for bass,