The translation of "deyner sunde Diener" from German to English is "your sinful servant."

Dr. Rüdiger Nolte sheds light in his lecture on Johann Sebastian Bach's handling of the role of the "Jews" in his major Passion oratorios. Did he want to influence the congregation? Or do the works simply reflect the anti-Jewish conventions of his time? Johann Sebastian Bach's so-called "Jewish choruses" in his St. John and St. Matthew Passions disturb our ideal of Bach, whose musical art deeply moves and astonishes us. Did he intend to further influence the congregation of the Leipzig Thomaskirche in line with the anti-Jewish text? Or does his compositional art merely reflect the anti-Jewish conventions of his time? Anti-Judaism had been established in Europe for centuries, and contempt for Jews was a widespread attitude—often religiously justified, but mostly determined by church and political power. Dr. Rüdiger Nolte demonstrates how Bach theologically complements and interprets the Passion accounts of the Gospels: How did the composer deal with the biblical accounts of the Passion of Jesus? What role do the "Jews" play in Bach's major Passion oratorios? The lecture attempts to view J. S. Bach's oratorio passions in connection with a deeply rooted European tradition that we still grapple with today—not least in our reception of sacred art. Do we experience our own anti-Jewish entanglements in the artistic experience of Bach's Passions?