passion music, choral music whose text depicts events immediately surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus. The earliest passions, composed from the 9th to the 14th cent., were monophonic and employed the actual biblical text of one of the four Evangelists. Polyphonic passions originated in England in the 15th cent. After the Reformation, free poetry was added to passion texts. Orchestral accompaniment was used during the baroque period. The genre reached its peak in the baroque period with such works as Schütz's three Dresden passions (1665-66) and J. S. Bach's St. John Passion (1723) and St. Matthew Passion (1729). Not well represented in the 19th and early 20th cent., the genre underwent a revival in the late 20th cent., notably with K. Penderecki's Passio et mors domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Lucam [Passion according to St. Luke] (1965) and Arvo Pärt's Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem [Passion according to St. John] (1982).

Passion play, genre of the miracle play that has survived from the Middle Ages into modern times. Its subject is the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Passion plays were first given in Latin. By the 13th cent. they included German verses, and 200 years later the entire play was performed in German. Toward the end of the 15th cent. passion plays had become far more secular in content, having been degraded, in a religious sense, through their contact with carnival plays. Their production was forbidden by ecclesiastical authorities and only a few were revived after the Counter Reformation. The chief survival among the passion plays is the one performed at Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps. This entirely amateur performance has been given every 10 years (last in 1990, originally in 1634, with only three interruptions caused by war) in fulfillment, it is said, of a vow that was made during a plague. Passion plays have been revived in a few cities in W Europe.

Passion cycle, in art, the depiction of the last events in the life of Jesus. The Passion was a favorite subject of medieval and Renaissance artists and was considered the most ambitious of projects. The scenes depicted generally include the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the washing of his feet, the Last Supper, the Agony in the garden, the betrayal, the denial of Peter, Jesus before Pilate, the flagellation, the mocking of Jesus, the road to Calvary, the 14 Stations of the Cross (developed in the 14th cent. as a separate Crucifixion cycle), the Deposition, the Pietà (or Lamentation), and the Entombment. The scenes may be represented singly, as in Michelangelo's Pietà, or as a suite, as in Giotto's frescoes in the Arena Chapel at Padua. The artists' interpretations of what was to be represented in each scene were strictly circumscribed by convention and were usually limited to biblical descriptions of the events.

Family Passifloraceae, composed of about 600 species of herbaceous or woody vines, shrubs, and trees in 20 genera. Members of this family grow mostly in warm regions. Many species produce edible fruits. Members of the largest genus, Passiflora, are highly prized for their showy, unusual flowers. A pedestal-like structure in the centre of the flower carries the reproductive parts of both sexes. The passionflower blossom is often used to symbolize events in the last hours (Passion) of Jesus, which accounts for the name of the group.

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Religious drama of medieval origin dealing with the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Early Passion plays were written in Latin and consisted of Gospel readings alternating with poetic descriptions of the events of Christ's Passion (i.e., his sufferings between the Last Supper and his death). Use of the vernacular for these poetic passages led to the development of independent vernacular plays. By the 16th century many of the plays had been overtaken by secular influences and had become mere popular entertainments. Some survived into the 21st century, most notably the one performed by local villagers every 10 years at Oberammergau, Ger. Seealso liturgical drama; miracle play; mystery play.

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