The Royal Free Singers Spring Concert: April 12th, 2014
The
earlier of Bach’s two surviving settings of the Gospel Passion narrative, the
St John Passion is perhaps less well-known than the larger scale St Matthew
Passion but it is in many ways the more audacious and original. The first performance was on Good
Friday, 7 April 1724, in Saint Nicholas Church, Leipzig. After the Magnificat (first performed
the preceding Christmas) it was his first large scale work since being
appointed Cantor for the Leipzig churches in 1723.
The
work consists of the Gospel text (narrated in recitative by a tenor
representing the Evangelist, with other solo voices taking the parts of Christ,
Pilate, Peter and the High Priest’s servants, and the choir those of the
priests, disciples, soldiers and the crowd), ten reflective arias and a set of
eleven reflective Lutheran Chorales, the whole being framed by two large scale
choruses.
The
Royal Free Singers were joined by professional soloists and accompanied by a
professional orchestra - a truly memorable performance.
