Georg Philipp Telemann's Passion oratorios stand at the threshold between liturgical tradition and Enlightenment innovation. This study examines how, at the beginning of the 18th century, a changed image of Jesus, pietistic piety and operatic means of expression combined to form a new form of Passion music. The focus is on Telemann's five Passion oratorios, whose libretti and musical composition are systematically analysed: word-tone relationships, formal models and key signatures, as well as their integration into contemporary political and theological discourses. In this way, the work reveals Telemann's artistic ambitions in the field of tension between theology and aesthetics and shows him to be a reflective innovator of sacred music beyond confessional polemics. It thus contributes to the history of the Passion oratorio in the Age of Enlightenment.
