In contrast to other German cities, Hamburg – where C.P.E. Bach (1714-1788) settled in 1768 – had a tradition of playing the passions during the church service, not in a separate service. This had implications. Not only were the passions shorter in length in the Hanseatic city, but also their structure and storytelling began later and ended with the death of Christ. During the twenty years he spent there, his position as director of music for the city of Hamburg required C.P.E. Bach to perform a passion each year. It is well known that the composer worked slowly and was unable to meet deadlines. Does this explain the fact that his passions include numerous additions by other musicians, in addition to a few personal contributions?

The reconstruction of the score of the St. Luke Passion (1775) shows that it is essentially the work of Gottfried August Homilius, who was also the main contributor to the passions of C.P.E. Bach.

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Lyrics: DE