St. John Passion

Bach performed the St. John Passion on several occasions during his lifetime. While the work never achieved a definitive form, this presentation takes the composer’s unfinished revision of 1739 as a point of departure, and broadens the orchestral palate further to include instrumentation from both the later version of 1749 and earlier versions presented in 1724, 1725 & 1732, including the viola d’amore and contrabassoon, rarely heard in current-day performances.

Also very much in the spirit of Bach’s day is the inclusion of an additional aria, “Mein Tröster ist nicht mehr bei mir”, set to the beautiful words of the composer’s librettist and regular collaborator Picander. This piece was known to be included in the now lost but reconstructable St. Mark Passion and is given in this performance by the tenor Evangelist.

The performances will be given in German with English surtitles.