First performed on Good Friday 1727 in St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, the St. Matthew Passion was the second of the five Passions attributed to Bach by his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, after his father’s death; and one of the only two that are certainly by the composer (the other being the St. John Passion).
As with the St. John Passion, the oratorio interleaves the words of the Lutheran version of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, sung by the Evangelist and the chorus; with chorale melodies taken from the Lutheran Hymnal; and solo arias with texts by Picander (Christian Friedrich Henrici) who’s poetry reflects upon the drama of the crucifixion. The Matthew Passion is, however, written for larger forces than its predecessor being scored for two choirs and two orchestras.
A version with English subtitles but no section timings:
… section timings (but no subtitles) are available from the Netherlands Bach Society on the link below:
Van Veldhoven | Netherlands Bach Society
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The Art of Listening 