Quintessence J.S. Bach, Matthäus Passion, Johannes Passion

Featuring

Erhard Mauersberger
Rudolf Mauersberger
Peter Schreier
Theo Adam
Annelies Burmeister
Johannes Künzel

Adele Stolte
Siegfried Vogel
Hans-Joachim Rotzsch
Günther Leib
Hans Martin Nau
Gerda Schriever
Erika Wustmann
Hermann Christian Polster
Eva Hassbecker
Christoph Genz
Egbert Junghanns
Annette Markert
Christiane Oelze
Sylke Schwab
Andreas Scheibner
Hans-Jürgen Richter
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Dresdner Kreuzchor
Thomanerchor Leipzig
Virtuosi Saxoniae
Halle Madrigal Singers
Johann Sebastian Bach

Did you know?

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Composition History

Bach revised the St John Passion at least three times, with the most radical changes in 1725, which shifted the work's emphasis towards human sin and repentance.

Compositional Technique

Bach's St Matthew Passion uses two choirs and a full orchestra, a monumental design that likely seemed extravagant to his contemporaries.

Critical Reception

The St Matthew Passion was largely forgotten after Bach's death until Carl Friedrich Zelter and Felix Mendelssohn revived it in 1829 with the Berliner Sing-Akademie.

Composition History

Johann Sebastian Bach's contract as Thomaskantor required him to fashion music that was not unduly protracted or operatic, but rather aroused reverence.

Compositional Technique

The St John Passion includes instruments like two viola d'amore and a lute, which were considered almost obsolete at the time, to create subtle colorings.

Compositional Technique

In the St John Passion, Bach uses recitative and da capo (A-B-A) arias, which some contemporaries found too theatrical and operatic for church music.

Historical Context

A contemporary report from 1732 describes a Passion performance that shocked an 'elderly widow' who exclaimed, 'God save us, my children! It's just as if we were at an opera'.