St. Matthew Passion
I have been listening to this NPR program from 2008. It is a wonderful program about " one of the greatest pieces of music in the western repertory," - St. Matthew Passion, My great aunt used to say of a piece of music that "it was healing." I can see how she felt that way after listening to this.
2 comments:
I can make the case that Bach's Matthew Passion is a strong contender for the greatest musical work within the Western tradition--but it would take more than a couple of paragraphs. I've given public lectures making exactly that point. If one studies the work carefully, all of human experience is contained within the several hours it takes to listen to it. By ALL means, find those hours and listen to it, with a GOOD translation, if you don't read German. A good translation is almost never a poetic translation, by the way.
My mother is a chorale singer. This is one of her favorite pieces.
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