You don’t have to follow the Christian eschatology to realise that “easter” has a far deeper meaning which predates the birth of Jesus by millennia. Fans of The Golden Bough will recall that legends of the Reborn- God- in- Spring, are almost universal among people who live and farm across the northern hemisphere, and have been ever since the Neolithic. The sense of renewal after a hard winter, and the hope of fresh beginnings, address something extremely deep in the human psyche.
Bach‘s great Easter oratorios, the St Matthew Passion and the St John Passion speak to this sensibility as well as any work of art we know. Bach wrote the St John Passion in 1724. Like many such works, it was revised and cut many times, not least by the composer himself. The versions we hear now are are result of centuries of study, and of course the early music revival of the 1980s, when period instruments and orchestrations were rediscovered and tried out.
This year we have chosen the St John Passion as, frankly, we are a bit St Matthewed-out. So it is wonderful to try to understand a fresher set of rhythms and harmonies from a master artist, and relate them to Bach’s sense of the universal, creed-jumping essence of this work. Of course, we would not dare to tell you which bits to like, nor why. For one thing, we lack the musical knowledge. But we really liked the opening prologue, Herr, unser Herrscher, and we hope you will too. And meanwhile wish all of you a happy Easter, or whatever you call this break, and hope the world improves as the summer opens before us.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_Passion
[2]https://www.udiscovermusic.com/classical-features/bach-st-john-passion/
#JS Bach #St John Passion #Easter #Neolithic #belief #christianity #music
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