[CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LINK TO THE VISITOR’S GUIDE TO BACH’S ST. MATTHEW PASSION]<\/strong><\/p>\n Johann Sebastian Bach - Elias Gottlob Haussmann<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Bach’s St. Matthew Passion<\/strong>, once described as a “majestic cathedral of music,” was first heard on Good Friday, 1727, in Leipzig’s St. Thomas Church.<\/p>\n March 18, 2008 – Johann Sebastian Bach <\/a>wrote his St. Matthew Passion<\/em> for a single purpose\u2014to present the biblical passion story, in music, at Good Friday vesper services.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Bach’s Passion<\/em> continues to move audiences more than 280 years after it was first heard in St. Thomas’s Church in Leipzig, Germany. Standing as one of the pillars of Western sacred music, it is at once monumental and intimate, deeply sorrowful and powerful.<\/p>\n The audio program presented here, hosted by Lynn Neary<\/a>, is from the NPR series Milestones of the Millennium<\/em>. It’s a journey through the St. Matthew Passion<\/em> guided by acclaimed scholars, conductors and singers (including Ian Bostridge<\/a>, Joshua Rifkin, Ton Koopman and Christoph Wolff), all closely associated with Bach’s masterpiece.<\/p>\n Bach’s Passion<\/em> retells the dramatic and compelling story of the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. Bach divided the music into two parts. Highlights of part one include the last supper and the betrayal and arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.<\/p>\n In part two, the music turns darker and softer\u2014signalling the inevitability of the story\u2014as it depicts the trial, crucifixion and burial of Jesus. The Passion<\/em> ends with the darkly textured chorus, “In tears of grief.” Bach could leave his parishioners in a sorrowful mood, knowing that they’d be celebrating Christ’s resurrection in just a few days.<\/p>\n Bach built his Passion<\/em> from choruses both small and large, and arias for specific characters such as Jesus, Judas, Peter and Pontius Pilate. The Evangelist, a role for tenor voice, is the principal storyteller and narrator, moving the drama along through through a kind of half sung, half spoken recitative. Supporting Bach’s massive structure are three grand choruses\u2014at the beginning, middle and end\u2014standing as tall pillars, holding up the surrounding music.<\/p>\n The Passion<\/em> begins with an immense wave of sound\u2014an opening chorus constructed of an interlocking double choir with a children’s chorus soaring over top\u2014building with intensity, and sweeping the listener into the drama.<\/p>\n English tenor Ian Bostridge is so taken with Bach’s music that he has made the role of the Evangelist a staple of his repertoire.<\/p>\n “I think the St. Matthew Passion<\/em> is one of the greatest pieces of music in the western repertory,” Bostridge says. “And to start one’s journey toward understanding that piece is a very important point in anybody’s life.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Visitor’s Guide to the St. Matthew Passion from NPR – National Public Radio by Tom Huizenga [CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO LINK TO THE VISITOR’S GUIDE TO BACH’S ST. MATTHEW PASSION] \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, once described as a “majestic cathedral of music,” was first heard on Good Friday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[231,232],"class_list":["post-2983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","tag-bachs-st-matthews-passion","tag-st-matthew-passion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2983"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3056,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983\/revisions\/3056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/astrowin.org\/rffriends\/wpx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/Johann_Sebastian_Bach1-243x300.jpg\" "\\"Johann_Sebastian_Bach\\"")
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