Graun, Telemann & Bach: Wer ist der, so von Edom kömmt

Featuring

Gotthold Schwarz
Gesine Adler
Klaudia Zeiner
Tobias Hunger
Tobias Berndt
Sächsische Barockorchester

Concerto Vocale
Georg Philipp Telemann

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Composition History

This Passion oratorio is a 'pasticcio' (a work made up of parts of other works) based on Carl Heinrich Graun's Passion cantata "Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld," with additions from other composers.

Historical Context

This Passion oratorio may have been performed on Good Friday, March 27, 1750, in the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, possibly under the direction of Johann Sebastian Bach shortly before his death.

Performer Biography

Gotthold Schwarz, the conductor of this recording, is the 17th Thomaskantor, a prestigious position once held by Johann Sebastian Bach himself.

Composition History

The work includes additional movements from Georg Philipp Telemann's Palm Sunday cantata "Wer ist der, so von Edom kömmt" and several movements attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach.

Composer Biography

Johann Sebastian Bach's eyesight had severely worsened in his last years, and he died four months after an eye operation in Easter 1750.

Compositional Technique

The addition of six four-part chorale settings to the second part of the oratorio was likely intended to integrate the Passion music more strongly into the Good Friday liturgy and prevent it from being seen as too 'operatic'.

Performer Biography

The Sächsisches Barockorchester (Saxon Baroque Orchestra) was founded in 1989 by Gotthold Schwarz and sees itself in the tradition of the 'new' enthralling musical culture of composers like Georg Philipp Telemann and Johann Sebastian Bach.