Matthäus-Passion Berlin Concert

Precisely 300 years ago – on Good Friday in 1727 – a real monument of music history was performed in Leipzig for the first time: the St Matthew Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach. Quite certainly, a large portion of the worshipping congregation will have been astonished by the vast scope, the massive group of performers and the emotional power of this musical reflection on the suffering and death of Jesus. This two-part Passion setting lasts about three hours; in the vesper service of the time it was interrupted by a sermon and supplemented by additional liturgical prayers, and with organ music and hymns. Indeed, with this composition Johann Sebastian Bach surpassed by far all previous standards for settings of the Passion.

The libretto of this “Great Passion” – as the work was called in the house of Bach – stems from Christian Friedrich Henrici, a poet from Leipzig who published using the pen name Picander. The biblical text from the Gospel of Matthew is framed and interrupted by numerous poems, which in turn are structured as a dialogue between the daughter of Zion, as the personification of the holy city of Jerusalem, and believers. This poetic principle in turn inspired Bach to construct his composition consistently for double chorus. Two choruses and two orchestras are involved; their respective entries make the dialogue structure clear. The St Matthew Passion is of particular importance for Berlin’s music history: the first revival conducted by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy with the Berliner Sing-Akademie in 1829 kicked off a more intensive engagement with Bach’s sacred vocal music. Later as well, Berlin was repeatedly the site of special performances of this work. The RIAS Kammerchor released a recording of the St Matthew Passion in 2014 conducted by René Jacobs that was nominated for a Grammy and received the German ECHO Classics award. Of course the choir will perform this exceptional work for its 300th anniversary, together with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and choice vocal soloists.

The concert will be recorded by Deutschlandfunk Kultur.