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The "Erwäge" aria of Bach's St John Passion is harmonically extremely similar to the final Chorus of Bach's St Matthew Passion (to the extent that when listening to the former, I keep waiting for the chorus to break out in the latter). Is there any discussion somewhere of why Bach may have done this? Thematically they occur at different points of the passion. Possibly the answer is as simple as "he liked how it sounded" but perhaps there is a different answer.

Brian Towers
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    I do think we in modern & post-modern musicians are apt to overthink the compositional processes of our forebears. Which is to say that your prosaic hunch is probably correct. That said, JS Bach was JS Bach: anything is possible. – Dean Ransevycz Jan 08 '19 at 08:46
  • This seems to fit better into Music Fans section, if not even into a chat. – guidot Feb 09 '23 at 08:17
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    I’m voting to close this question because its quite vague and appears more to attract comments than a definite answer. – guidot Feb 09 '23 at 08:19

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One possibility is that he deliberately created musical connections between the two passions to emphasize that they were the same story. But Bach plagiarized himself multiple times, a common practice in the Baroque era.

The first movement of Brandenburg Concerto #1 is based on a violin sonata, and the second movement is a reworking of a harpsichord piece. The second concerto incorporates themes from a harpsichord concerto, and the third movement is a reworking of a chorale melody. #5 features a harpsichord solo that is based on a piece from one of Bach's keyboard collections.

The Mass in B Minor is a large-scale work that incorporates material from several earlier compositions, including cantatas, motets, and chorales.

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