There is something very human in the St. John Passion. It is about emotions that you can empathize with. Then of course it is because the music is simply so brilliant: dramatic, beautiful and irresistible!
The passion story of Jesus’ suffering and death is depicted by the evangelist John. It is about Jesus’ last days and Bach chooses to end his passion with death on the cross, simply because it is originally music for Good Friday.
We can recognize ourselves in the betrayal, we can recognize ourselves in the sorrow and longing, but we can also enjoy the beauty of the music and feel some kind of mercy afterwards. Just like the people did in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig on Good Friday 1724. Music is timeless and boundless because we humans are fundamentally quite similar.
