ne
element which is found in Bach's works in an amplified form. Three
deacons were employed, one to read (or rather chant to Gregorian
melodies) the words of Christ, another to deliver the narrative in the
words of the Evangelist, and a third to give the utterances and
exclamations of the Apostles and people. This was the _Cantus
Passionis Domini nostri Jesu Christe_ of the Church, and had so strong
a hold upon the tastes of the people that it was preserved by Luther
in the Reformed Church.

[Sidenote: _The service amplified._]

[Sidenote: _Bach's settings._]

Under this influence it was speedily amplified. The successive steps
of the progress are not clear, but the choir seems to have first
succeeded to the part formerly sung by the third deacon, and in some
churches the whole Passion was sung antiphonally by two choirs. In the
seventeenth century the introduction of recitatives and arias,
distributed among singers who represented the personages of sacred
history, increased the dramatic element of the service which reached
its climax in the "St. Matthew" setting by Bach. The chorales are
supposed to have been introduced about 1704. Bach's "Passions" are the
last that figure in musical history. That "according to St. John" is
performed occasionally in Germany, but it yields the palm of
excellence to that "according to St. Matthew," which had its first
performance on Good Friday, 1729, in Leipsic. It is in two parts,
which were formerly separated by the sermon, and employs two choirs,
each with its own orchestra, solo singers in all the classes of
voices, and a harpsichord to accompany all the recitatives, except
those of _Jesus_, which are distinguished by being accompanied by the
orchestral strings.

[Sidenote: _Oratorios._]

[Sidenote: _Sacred operas._]

In the nature of things passions, oratorios, and their secular
cousins, cantatas, imply scenes and actions, and therefore have a
remote kinship with the lyric drama. The literary analogy which they
suggest is the epic poem as contra-distinguished from the drama. While
the drama presents incident, the oratorio relates, expounds, and
celebrates, presenting it to the fancy through the ear instead of
representing it to the eye. A great deal of looseness has crept into
this department of music as into every other, and the various forms
have been approaching each other until in some cases it is become
difficult to say which term, opera or oratorio, ought to be appl