A Forthright Approach
J S Bach's
St Matthew Passion -
recommended by
HOWARD SMITH'... the Ex Cathedra performance is a triumph.'
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St Matthew Passion, BWV 244 (Matthäuspassion in German), was written in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra.
Its libretto is by Christian Henrici (1700-1764, also known as Picander) and sets chapters 26 and 27 of St Matthew's gospel to music, with interpolated chorales and arias.
BWV 244 is believed to have been first performed on Good Friday, 11 April 1727, in Thomaskirche, Leipzig, where Bach was Kapellmeister (1723-1750). Nine years later (1736) he revised it, performing it in March of that year, this time with two organs in the score.
The work was not heard outside of Leipzig until 1829, when Felix Mendelssohn presented an abbreviated and modified version of it in Berlin...
Copyright © 3 March 2010
Howard Smith,
Masterton, New Zealand
CD INFORMATION: ST MATTHEW PASSION
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