In August of 1970, I was working for Dave Brubeck as a copyist. One night after work, I was invited to visit the nearby home of the late great Bill Crofut.
As we walked in the door, the most astonishing sound greeted my ears, being played through state-of-the-art (for that time) stereo equipment: the 1959 recording of this piece performed by Karl Richter and the Munich Bach Orchestra and Chorus.
Later, Crofut told me that he had been a member of that chorus!
I was blown away by this music, written almost 300 years ago.
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There is a great deal of controversy over whether Bach used massed forces for the choral sections or just the soloists. Joshua Rifkin tends toward the latter and the NBS follows suit, with just one or two voices per part.
There is a great deal of controversy over whether Bach used massed forces for the choral sections or just the soloists. Joshua Rifkin tends toward the latter and the NBS follows suit, with just one or two voices per part.
Bach inserted 10 chorales -- almost all of them have the same melodic outline. The first one is in A-Flat Major (25:01):
The next nine use different words, but follow the same melodic pattern; they are in E Major, B Minor, B-Flat Major, F Major, A Major, D Major, B Minor again, F Major again, and finally A Major with the final chord on the dominant, E Major.
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If you don't have three hours, at least listen to these two great arias:
For a real treat, listen to “Mache dich” with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in that '59 recording (with the score):
From 11 years ago, if you want to get into the weeds with me, where I compare and contrast five different recordings of the Passion.
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