The furtherance and further enrichment of the medieval Christian heritage of music and art remains of the greatest legacies of the Lutheran wing of the Protestant Reformation. As Luther stated in the preface to the 1524 Wittenberg Hymnal<\/em>, he was \u201cnot of the opinion that the gospel should destroy and blight all the arts, as some of the pseudo-religious claim.\u201d He would \u201clike to see all the arts, especially music, used in the service of Him who gave and made them.\u201d<\/p>\n Fifteen years ago, I attended a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach\u2019s St. John Passion<\/em> in Leipzig\u2019s Thomaskirche (where Bach had served as cantor). This year, my interest in Bach\u2019s passions was rekindled by a passage in Jaroslav Pelikan\u2019s Illustrated Jesus through the Centuries<\/em>. As Pelikan comments, it \u201cwas Bach\u2019s genius to bring together, in the cantatas and then on a larger scale in the Passions<\/em>, these two Reformation elements: the text of the Gospel in Luther\u2019s unmatched translation and the chorale.\u201d Archbishop Nathan Soederblom of Sweden once termed Bach\u2019sSt. Matthew Passion \u201ca fifth Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n The opening chorale of the Matthew passion is among the most stirring pieces of music I have ever heard. Enhanced by Bach\u2019s use of two choirs, \u201cKommt, ihr Toechter, helft mir klagen\u201d (Come, you daughters, help me lament) is haunting, eerie, and lovely. Here is Leonard Bernstein\u2019s introduction:<\/p>\n Suddenly the chorus breaks into two antiphonal choruses. \u2018See him!\u2019 cries the first one. \u2018Whom?\u2019 asks the second. And the first answers: \u2018The Bridegroom see. See Him!\u2019 \u2018How?\u2019 \u2018So like a Lamb.\u2019 And then over and against all this questioning and answering and throbbing, the voices of a boy\u2019s choir sing out the chorale tune, \u2018O Lamb of God Most Holy,\u2019 piercing through the worldly pain with the icy-clear truth of redemption. The contrapuntal combination of the three different choruses is thrilling. There is nothing like it in all music.<\/em><\/p>\n Whether for the love of great music or as a devotional aid during this holiest of Christian weeks, listen to and watch this performance of the opening chorale. It\u2019s in the Thomaskirche, with the all-boy Thomanerkhor and two other Leipzig choirs:<\/p>\n