St Matthew Passion – Choir Director’s Introduction
馬太受難曲 — 來自詩班指揮的介紹
Following the two-millennium Christian tradition, today on Easter Sunday, the coworkers of our church offer a special presentation on the Passion of Jesus Christ. The program insert describes the Passion oratorio you are about to experience.
今天是復活節，依照兩百年來基督教的傳統，我們教會的同工在這裡特別奉獻馬太受難曲來紀念主耶穌的受難和復活。崇拜程序單裏附帶的單張簡略地介紹了你們將要欣賞的這部清唱劇。
Bach’s masterpiece Passion oratorio consists of four parts: introductory choral preludes, recitative, chorales, and solo arias. The introductory choral preludes give a framework of the entire Passion play and an overview of what we are about to experience. The recitative is the reenactment of Matthew’s Gospel 26-27, played by the main characters in the Bible and narrated by the evangelist Matthew. The chorales express the feelings and emotions of the believers as they watch the unfolding of the Passion play. The solo arias bring the Passion story to the present time by conveying the struggle we face in our spiritual growth. The entire score is over 3 hours long. Due to the difficulty and time limitation, we will only sing one choral prelude and one aria. However, we will present the entire two chapters of the Gospel and the 12 chorales.
巴赫的這部清唱劇傑作包括四個部分：合唱前奏曲、朗誦、聖詠合唱曲和獨聲詠嘆調。前奏曲概括和暗示了整個受難曲的劇情。朗誦部分取材於馬太福音26和27章，由傳道人馬太敍述，經文中的主要人物分角色朗誦。基督徒聽衆在欣賞此劇時，隨著劇情的深入，心靈受到強烈的震撼，巴赫用聖詠合唱曲傳達出這種靈性體驗。獨聲詠嘆調則將耶穌受難期間發生的事情帶入到現實生活中，折射出我們在靈命成長過程中所遇到的屬靈爭戰。整個清唱劇原本長達三個小時，由於演唱的難度和時間限制，我們今天只演唱一首前奏曲和獨聲詠嘆調，但我們會演出馬太福音26和27章的全部内容和12首聖詠合唱曲。
This Passion play is an offering in memory of Christ’s sacrifice for us. For the fellow believers, we ask that you too offer yourself as you listen to the play. For those who have not yet accepted Jesus as your personal savior, we pray that you will open your heart for the truth presented in the Gospel.
這部受難清唱劇是為了紀念主基督在十字架上為我們所做的犧牲。對於已經信主的弟兄姐妹，我們邀請您在聆聽這部清唱劇時也將自己完全地奉獻給主。對於在座還沒有接受主耶穌基督作你個人救主的朋友，我們殷切地為你們禱告，盼望你們能敞開心扉來接受福音中所傳遞的真理。
