FW: St. Matthew Passion

From composer Kile Smith…

 

Feed: Kile Smith
Posted on: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 7:54 PM
Author: Kile Smith
Subject: St. Matthew Passion

 

My brief WRTI Newsletter description for the Good Friday broadcast: A 20-year-old steps on the stage to conduct a piece by an almost-forgotten organist, and the course of Western music is changed forever. In 1829 the St. Matthew Passion of Johann Sebastian Bach was resurrected by Felix Mendelssohn in Leipzig, the city where it had been written a century earlier. The reputation of the old master shot to the stratosphere, where it continues to orbit over all of music today. This three-hour work has been called—probably more than any other piece—the greatest music ever written. The opening triple chorus staggers us in its powerful expression of grief and faith, and as we journey through the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, we are moved by the emotions of suffering and comfort. Join in our Good Friday tradition and listen to this "majestic cathedral of music" with us on April 2nd at noon.

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