For a long time, this setting of the St John Passion was taken to be a work of Handel's youth—written, it was supposed, in Hamburg in 1704. In the late 1960s, however, a German scholar stated that it was not Handel's work, but probably by Georg Bohm (1661–1733), a Thuringian-born composer who worked in Hamburg and Luneburg and is remembered chiefly for some fine organ music and for his influence on the young Bach. The attribution to him makes good sense, much better sense than an attribution to Handel, for there is scarcely even a glimmer here of anything we would recognize as Handelian (even making due allowance for the fact that this is supposed to be a very early work). It is a fairly slender piece, consisting mainly of short numbers in a direct, simple, rather conservative late-baroque style. As in more familiar Passion settings, there is a tenor Evangelist, a crowd chorus with some lively if brief contrapuntal numbers, and contemplative pieces including several arias, three duets and some choruses, of which the concluding one (''Schlafe wohl'') is genuinely moving. Other notable items include Jesus's death scene (''Es ist vollbracht!'') in a free arioso style but I have also to say that there are several vapid ones and some that are rather clumsily written.
The performance by the Hungarian periodinstrument group, Capella Savaria, gives a very fair idea of the work. This group now seem, as they did not in their early recordings, thoroughly at home with their instruments and baroque performing techniques; I like particularly their clean, light articulation which provides pleasantly airy textures. Not all the solo singing is equally accomplished: the soprano sings very sweetly in her solos and the quite attractive duet with the bass, but her intonation is not dependable, and nor is that of the Evangelist. The Jesus has a happily warm, gentle bass-baritone.
The recording is clear and true. The accompanying booklet carries with the libretto, a note of quite extraordinary length, mainly a description of the music, it argues without overmuch conviction, for the possibility of Handel's authorship: Bohm's name is nowhere mentioned. The box, reprehensibly, presents the work as Handel's without qualification, with a Handel picture; don't be taken in.'