Abstract

The various moments in Christ's Passion that Metastasio used in his oratorio are organised according to the traditional "harmonies" that were constructed with material drawn from the four Gospels. Another traditional feature is the central importance attributed to the St Matthew Gospel, which provides the main framework into which are introduced elements drawn from the other Gospels. As a result, the theological message of each individual Gospel tends to be ignored; for example, there is nothing of the very specific Christology in St. John. This latter absence reveals the influence of Deism on Metastasio's text - an influence that is particularly clear in that feeling of God's presence in the natural world (for example, in the famous aria "Dovunque il guardo giro") and in the focus on Christ's redeeming role in this life. The interpretation of various passages from the Bible is based on precise quotations from the works of the Fathers of the Church which could have been found in the large commentaries that were available in Metastasio's day.