Posts Tagged ‘St. Matthew Passion’
Good Friday – St. Matthew Passion by J. S. Bach
It is Good Friday as I write this, and I feel compelled to share a notable piece of music with you which is traditionally performed on Good Friday. This work, The St. Matthew Passion by J. S. Bach, is to me one of the greatest works of art ever created, and yet it is not art for art’s sake. It is religious art of the highest order. It is a sublime, religious work that has moved even the most militant atheists.
Unlike some works that are performed during Holy Week, this work does not combine the Passion Stories from the different gospels, but instead takes the story from the Gospel According to Matthew, hence the title “St. Matthew Passion.”
I don’t remember the first time that I heard the St. Matthew Passion, but I do remember that I immediately felt that it was one of the most beautiful musical works that I had ever heard. It is beautiful beyond words, and it has density. Read the rest of this entry »
- Yossele Rosenblatt: The Cantor With The Heavenly VoiceHe was said to have sang while still in the crib and toured Eastern Europe synagogues before he was 10. And that was just the beginning. By the 1920s, Rosenblatt transcended the boundaries of Jewish sacred music to become an international sensation. […]
- First Listen: Steve Reich, 'Double Sextet, 2x5'The composer's innovations have been distilled and polished to a new, compelling sheen in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet and the new, rock-inflected 2x5. Hear both works here until they're released on Sept. 14. […]
- Opera Noir: Alban Berg's 'Wozzeck'As he struggles with jealousy and poverty in this powerful tragedy, the psychologically disturbed title character endures ridicule from his superiors and undergoes bizarre medical experiments. […]
- First Listen: 'Cantique,' With The Music Of Arvo PartThe Estonian composer's evocative music has opened a window into a world of spiritual ideals and aspirations, and attracted many fans along the way. Hear Cantique, the new CD of Pärt's music, in its entirety. […]
- Photo: Paolo FresuA Blog Supreme is on vacation. Until we return, we are periodically leaving you with some shots from The NPR Jazz Photography Pool on Flickr. Here, Vicenzo Cosenza writes about capturing the great Italian trumpeter on film recently. […]
- First Listen: The Bad Plus, 'Never Stop'It may be one of the leading names in jazz, but The Bad Plus probably wouldn't mind if you called it a weirdo instrumental rock band. Hear the decade-old trio's latest album, the all-original Never Stop, in its entirety until its release on Sept. 14. […]
- Six Decades Of Jazz With Nat HentoffHentoff was 11 years old, strolling along a Boston street, when he first heard jazz clarinetist Artie Shaw's famous composition "Nightmare" and was hooked. He has spent roughly six decades covering the world of jazz, and he's collected his thoughts and memories in a new book, At the Jazz Band Ball: Sixty Years on the Jazz Scene. […]