Evangelist (Bach)

Beginning of a recitative (St Matthew Passion, No. 61), the Bible words written in red

The Evangelist in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is the tenor part in his oratorios and Passions who narrates the exact words of one of the Four Evangelists of the Bible, translated by Martin Luther, in recitative secco. The part appears in the works St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and the Christmas Oratorio, as well as the St Mark Passion and the Ascension Oratorio Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11. Some cantatas also contain recitatives of Bible quotations, assigned to the tenor voice.

Bach followed a tradition using the tenor for the narrator of a gospel. It exists (and is also often called the Evangelist) in earlier works setting biblical narration, for example by Heinrich Schütz (Weinachtshistorie, Matthäuspassion, Lukaspassion, Johannespassion).

In contrast, the vox Christi, voice of Christ, is always the bass in Bach's works, including several cantatas.