The St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, also known as Matthæus Passion (German: Matthäuspassion), is a musical composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander (Christian Friedrich Henrici). It sets chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew to music, with interspersed chorales and arias.
Only two of the four (or five) settings of the Passion which Bach wrote have surviv...
more
The St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, also known as Matthæus Passion (German: Matthäuspassion), is a musical composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander (Christian Friedrich Henrici). It sets chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew to music, with interspersed chorales and arias.
Only two of the four (or five) settings of the Passion which Bach wrote have survived; the other is the St. John Passion. The St. Matthew Passion was probably first performed on Good Friday (11 April) 1727 in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where Bach was the Kapellmeister. He revised it by 1736, performing it again on March 30, 1736, this time including two organs in the instrumentation.
The St. Matthew Passion was not heard outside of Leipzig until 1829, when Felix Mendelssohn performed an abbreviated and modified version of it in Berlin to great acclaim. Mendelssohn's revival of the St. Matthew Passion brought the music of...
less
