Bach: St John Passion | Choir & Orchestra of the J.S. Bach Foundation, Rudolf Lutz (conductor)

Live from the Leipzig Bach Festival 2022: St John Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach (1749 version). The Choir & Orchestra of the J.S. Bach Foundation will sing and play, conducted by Rudolf Lutz. The opening of the concert will be the world premiere of the Prelude in G minor for organ by Rudolf Lutz (*1951). The organ will be played by the St. Thomas Church organist Johannes Lang.

Performers:
Johannes Lang | ORGAN
Evangelist and Arias: Daniel Johannsen | TENOR
Jesus: Peter Harvey | BASS
Miriam Feuersinger | SOPRANO
Alex Potter | ALTUS
Pilate and Arias: Matthias Helm | BASS
Choir & Orchestra of the J.S. Bach Foundation St. Gallen
Rudolf Lutz | CONDUCTOR

The St John Passion, BWV 245, one of the five Passions composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750), is one of the only two which have survived in their entireity – the other being the St Matthew Passion, BWV 244. The premiere performance of the St John Passion – also referred to as the Passio secundum Joannem – was held on Good Friday 1724, in Leipzig's St. Nicholas Church (Nikolaikirche).

Bach was cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig from 1723 until his death in 1750. During this time, he performed the St John Passion himself at least four times in one of two main churches in Leipzig – and rewrote it for each one of the performances. Each of the revisions was extensive. He changed the structure, the instrumentation, the music, and sometimes even the text. On the basis of the four different versions of the St John Passion that he performed, Bach's approach to working on this great piece of church music is still quite easy to understand today.

The principal textual basis of the St John Passion are chapters 18 and 19 from the Gospel of John, some of which were carried over verbatim. In addition, interpolations of hymn stanzas for 4-part choir form a framework through which the Passion can be inserted into the liturgical context. Who arranged the text of the St John Passion for Bach is unknown.

Nowadays, the St John Passion is usually performed in concert rather than in church services. This way, its highly dramatic effect can be fully appreciated.

Thumbnail: © Jelena Gernert

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