theguardian.

com
Facing the music: John Butt
How do you listen to music most often?
Mainly on my iPhone or computer, with headphones.
comes to hi-fi equipment, despite working so much
n this field. I suppose headphones are better for
n the move and when I often have to concentrate
family environment.

Im remarkably hopeless when it

with a world-leading company i
a life that is almost always o
on something within a very noisy

What was the first ever record or CD that you bought?

It was a late-60s compilation of organ music by EMI called The King of Instrumen
ts. I went out of my way to learn these pieces as soon as I could, and they are
almost etched on my mind: Widors Toccata, Bachs Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, f
ollowed by Buxtehudes Preludium in G minor. In fact I cant hear Purcells Voluntary
on the Old 100th without thinking of George Thalben Balls slightly clumsy trill a
t the beginning of the second section.
What was the last piece of music you bought?
A bigger format score of Mozarts 40th Symphony (which Im doing with the Scottish C
hamber Orchestra). Not a hugely radical choice, I know, but well worth a listen
if you dont know it already!
Is applauding between movements acceptable?
Yes, why not? Its surely good for an audience to be involved. If theres the need f
or a segue, you can run the two movements together. Its true that concentration c
an sometimes be lost by both audience and musicians when theres enthusiastic nois
e, but there are surely also gains. Theres nothing worse than classical music pie
ty on the other hand, there are those who, without reflection, consider classica
l audiences to be too conformist and conservative in their behaviour and that th
ere should be a completely informal atmosphere. All of which is reasonable to so
me degree but try walking around and chatting during a film! Thats a good guide t
o whats acceptable and the degree of communal concentration that it is necessary
to maintain.
What single thing would improve the format of the classical concert?
A greater awareness of the centrality of classical music to the condition of wes
tern modernity: its contradictions, advantages and disadvantages, its relation o
f the individual to the whole, its need for necessary fictions and its development
s of our subjective awareness and experience of time. But, having written a book
on this very subject some five years ago, I find that my latest CD has already
sold more units than my book in three weeks! So, if my efforts in that direction
are an abject failure, I think Ill settle for a complete revamp of our economic
system. Classical music is never going to thrive in a fully monetised and totali
sed market economy.
Frances McKee and Eugene Kelly of The Vaselines performing on stage at Leeds Br
udenell Social Club on 30 September 2014
Frances McKee and Eugene Kelly of band The Vaselines. Photograph: Andrew Benge/R
edferns via Getty Images
Whats your musical guilty pleasure?
Well Im a serial obsessionalist one of the longest obsessions was for Glasgow gro
up The Vaselines. I bought their album Sex with an X, which still lies somewhere
on my computer. I think someone of a classical bent might find the music and pe
rformances a little, er ragged, but I believe this is a characteristic of the st
yle Ive heard grunge and garage associated with them, but am not sure which term is a
ppropriate. I even went through a phase of impersonating them, singing both voic
es in the song Son of a Gun (greatly beloved of Kurt Cobain) and relishing in th
at alarming tonal contrast between sections in the tonic and flattened leading n

ote.
Were giving you a time machine: what period, or moment in musical history, would
you travel to and why?
It would be fantastic to spend a week in Bachs Leipzig (say, around the time of t
he Matthew Passion premiere in 1727). Id learn so much about his attitude to musi
c, music-making and the people around him. I suspect Id be disappointed by at lea
st some aspects of the musical standards, but it would be good to hear the style
of performance and voice production. All this would be contingent on the suppos
ition that I wouldnt have to meet anyone
Do you enjoy musicals? Do you have a favourite?
No, and no. I was involved in two at school, as the beggar in the Beggars Opera (
a sort of 18th-century proto musical) and as the tramp in Salad Days (rather dat
ed and a little twee, but a musical nonetheless). Its difficult to dismiss the mu
sic qualities of Bernsteins work, and Ive many talented friends and colleagues who
love musicals and perform in them so I would not be so unkind as to say that fo
r me they are the dustbin equivalent of the Gesamtkunstwerk, where the aim seems
to be to unite the most mediocre aspects of as many arts as possible. In most c
ases, Id prefer two hours of heavy metal (provided I had earplugs).
Which conductor or performer of yester-year do you most wish you could have work
ed with?
Well, Ive always had a problem with authority figures, and with conductors in par
ticular. Im either completely intimidated or behave very childishly. And for some
reason Ive always found conductors hard to follow I remember playing viola in an
orchestra for Norman del Mar, who was meant to be some sort of conducting guru:
I had absolutely no idea when or how to play! I would certainly have liked to h
ave seen some conductors from the past (provided they didnt notice me) Gustav Mah
ler or Richard Strauss, both of whom were top class conductors in their time.
What, in your opinion, is the best new piece written in the past 50 years?
If I could have an extra five years, it would definitely be Messiaens Chronochrom
ie a piece where I think he achieved the ideal balance between complexity of sys
tems and the perception of his remarkable ear for sonority and the effects of mu
sic in time. And theres not a trace of that overweening self-indulgence that some
times affects his music.
Whats the most overrated classical work?
Well, anything by Delius, I suppose. To me his music is a little like a diet of
multiple sweet miniature cakes at an English garden party on an overly hot summe
rs afternoon. Having said that, he was one of Alfred Hitchcocks favourite composer
s, so Id hesitate to dismiss him completely
Which non-classical musician would you love to work with?
There are many, at least in theory what about Thelonius Monk or Miles Davis? But
theres a huge problem here: Id be completely, utterly hopeless so the deal would
have to include both a talent transplant and a good five years of the necessary e
xperience.
The Dunedin Consorts recording of Bachs Magnificat, heard for the first time w
ithin its original liturgical context, alongside the Christmas Cantata, is out n
ow on Linn Records

The Passion
bachs
ma hewstory
passion
was represented in a musical-dramatic tradition well before th
e invention of opera and oratorio. But it was only a matter of time before these

later dramatic genres would cross-fertilize with the earlier traditions. This b
egan to happen towards the end of the seventeenth century as librettists and com
posers increasingly embellished the Gospel texts with free arias, meditations an
d demanding obbligati. Many composers sought to capitalize on the operatic conve
ntions that congregations would have experienced in the world of secular enterta
inment. Nevertheless, the Passion in oratorio style did not arrive in Leipzig un
til 1717 (at the modish Neue-Kirche), and the ageing Johann Kuhnau did not intro
duce an Oratorio Passion at the Cantorate of the Thomasschule until 1721, thus s
hortly before Bach himself came to Leipzig (1723). So, one of the greatest ironi
es about Bachs Passions is that their original audiences were far less familiar w
ith the genre than we are; moreover as is the case with all Bachs most celebrated
music we might have heard them many more times than did the original performers
Bachs
or evenPassions
Bach himself.
were performed during the afternoon Vesper service on Good Friday,
their two parts replacing the cantata and Magni cat which were normally present
ed on either side of the sermon. Like Bachs cantatas, the Passions assimilate som
ething of the sermons function, since the free poetry of the arias, ariosos and f
raming choruses provide both a commentary and an emotional interpretation of the
biblical text in the world of the listener. This is something quite di erent fr
om the function of an aria in opera, which normally develops a speci c character
within the represented world. But it is not di cult to understand some of the c
omplaints about the new Passion genre from congregations in Lutheran Germany; Pa
ssions do, after all, borrow liberally from secular conventions such as dance an
d, particularly,
Particularly
striking
opera.in the construction of both the free poetry (by the Leipzi
g poet, Christian Friedrich Henrici, or Picander) and Bachs musical setting is the
emphasis on dialogue form necessitating the performing format of double chorus a
nd orchestra. This rhetorical device allows for contrasting or even opposing moo
ds to be presented simultaneously (e.g. So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen/Lat ihn, halt
et, bindet nicht!), complementary viewpoints (Ach, nun ist mein Jesu hin/Wo ist denn
dein Freund hingegangen) or a dialogue between a single speaker and a group (Ich
will bei meinem Jesu wachen/So schlafen unsre Sunden ein). All of these devices serv
e to personify the various voices within a single listener, acting out ones own rea
ctions
The
mostandimpressive
con icts.of the dialogue numbers is the opening chorus, which sets ou
t some of the topics that the meditative numbers are to cover; indeed it seeds s
everal words that open later arias. It is cast as a dialogue between Christian b
elievers and the Daughter of Zion (one of the allegorical personages from the Song
of Songs, reinterpreted as contemporary witnesses to Jesuss su ering). The theme
of Solomons love is recast in a Christian context with Jesus as the loving bride
groom and the church as his bride. A third element is introduced with the German
chorale on the Agnus Dei, O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig, sung by ripieno sopranos. Ch
rist is thus portrayed as an innocent sacri cial lamb, an image that
89
10
11
points towards the Apocalypse when Christ as a lamb rules the New Jerusalem, a b
ridegroom to the (feminine) community of all believers. In the work as a whole, Ba
ch spun a dialogue between Old and New Testaments, between these and the Luthera
n tradition (e.g. the traditional chorales) and between all these and the believ
er of his own time. It may well be that this sense of continual conversation is
what has rendered this work so durable in later contexts, drawing in the listene
r to continue the conversation, whether within or without the Christian traditio
n.
Bach shared something of the encyclopaedic urge of his age, and compiled virtual
ly every possible musical form available: recitatives (accompanied and secco), a
rioso, aria (including dance and concerto elements), chorales, chorale fantasias
, choruses and motets. Together with two elements unusual in Bachs works the doub
led forces and the string halo for Christs utterances these render it even more amb
itiousitsthan
With
unfolding
his morelevels
brutally
of symbolism,
immediate theological
John Passion.interpretation and most stri
king of all psychological insight, the Matthew Passion is perhaps the most chall
enging and ambitious artwork on a Christian subject. It is thus not entirely sur
prising that Bach seems to have spent considerable time and care in preparing th
e work. He possibly began writing it as early as 1725 but clearly did not nish
or perfect it in time for the Good Friday performance (the John Passion had to b
e repeated). Bach did not present the Matthew Passion until 1727 and recast it i
n its most familiar form in 1736. This recording is the rst to present the work

The
vocal
withdebates
Bachsabout
scoring
nal Bachs
revisions
vocal
of scoring
scoring,have
as performed
endured for
around
over1742.
a quarter of a centur
y. There is thus no need to repeat here the details of the thesis that Bach perf
ormed the majority of his choral works with a single voice to each part (as rst
proposed by Joshua Rifkin, on the basis of the surviving sets of performance pa
rts). Indeed, there have been several successful performances and at least one r
ecording
The
details
of of
thisthePassion
debatewith
notwithstanding,
this scoring.it is striking how well the Matthew P
assion, in particular, is served by using eight principal voices (thus four in e
ach of the two choirs). The work explores many forms of dialogue, as if to draw
the listener into a conversation that occurs in real time. Not only are there th
e sections written in genuine double-choir texture, but there are several other
combinations, such as one voice against four, or a dialogue between two singers
in the rst choir that becomes part of a larger dialogue with the four singers o
f the second choir. When all eight voices come together for certain choruses and
all the chorales, the e ect is quite di erent from performances in which the vo
ices of each choir are already massed. The solo scoring also allows for a form o
f expression and delivery that is more commonly associated with solo singing tha
n choral performance. When these voices come together as disciples or those bayi
ng for Jesuss blood, we hear them as individuals constituting a group rather than
Another
simply point
as a crowd.
to emerge from the vocal scoring is the way the four main singers,
and to a somewhat lesser extent, the four singers of choir two, become familiar
to us as the piece progresses. Hearing them take several roles, both in the pas
t of the story and in the present of the performance, enhances their actual real
ity to us. Given the large amount of aria material representing a contemporary r
esponse to the story, these singers are sharing our reactions, as observers, whi
le also bringing the past to presence. It is almost as if the essence of the Pas
sion story becomes real in our own time through the intermediary representation
of these eight singers, who increasingly seem to belong to us rather than merely
The
to case
some of
distant
the Evangelist
world.
and Jesus is especially signi cant. In the opening ch
orus we hear the principal tenor singing as one of the allegorical Daughters of Z
ion, calling us to lament. Then, by beginning the recitative (now in the third pe
rson) he brings a story to life, dipping into the past as a ( rst person) voice
in the chorus, then back into our present in the chorales and his aria (where he
promises to stand by Jesus, precisely as he does physically in
12
13
the actual performance). By going precisely against operatic convention, the mom
ents when he brings personages to presence (including Jesus himself) give us a r
ealism that is all the more striking for its intermittent nature. Indeed, the us
e of third-person Gospel narrative combined with many other voices, past and pre
sent, renders the experience rather more like a novel in sound than a straightfo
rward theatrical representation. The case of Jesus is even more striking, in tha
t the principal bass can also be heard as a human in the present, then as someon
e who can be either friend or foe to Jesus in the choruses. Towards the end he s
ings two arias that relate speci cally to the human assimilation of Jesus, rst
at the point where Simon of Cyrene helps carry the cross (thus, literally, the
rst imitator of Christ), and secondly in the wish to entomb Jesus in his own heart
. Who better then to exemplify the imitation and assimilation of Jesus than the
singer
If
the type
who has
of realism
been taking
implied
his by
roletheallscoring
along?of the eight voices is achieved th
rough a sort of anti-theatricality, this is made all the more striking by the wa
y the remaining historical personages are represented in Bachs scoring. These rol
es are split between three further singers who according to the layout of Bachs p
erforming parts play no further role in the performance (not even the chorales;
and the two sopranos in ripieno added to the rst and last numbers of Part One see
m to sing nothing else in the piece). The highest of the three takes the role of
Pilates wife and both the servant girls; of the two bass parts, one takes the ro
les of Judas and Priest I, the other the roles of Peter, Pilate, Caiphas and Pri
est II. Thus, in the course of the performance, these singers seem like disembod
ied voices from a Palestine long in the past and, consequently, set in relief th
e consistent presence of the main voices (and speci cally the presence of Jesus,
who, at least for a Christian, is far more alive in our present than the likes
of Judas, Peter or Pilate). Given the di culty of these short roles and the lack
of any vocal preparation, it may well be that Bach expected them to sound awkwa

rd and incompetent (an element of historical accuracy we decided not to duplicat

e infollowing
instrumental
In
this recording).
scoringvocal scoring more directly than in most previous performances
Bachs
(even those with single voices) we have also decided to recreate the instrument
ation that Bach employed in his last performance of the Matthew Passion. Most si
gni cant here seems to be his substitution of a harpsichord for the organ in orc
hestra two. This has normally been explained by the fact that the second main or
gan, at the other end of Leipzigs Thomaskirche, had fallen into disrepair. But it
is not likely that this instrument could ever have performed a continuo functio
n, given the distance involved, and, in any case, Bach could easily have employe
d a positive organ for choir two. Given that the harpsichord features in several
other late performances by Bach, we might then infer that it was included here
to provide a genuine contrast of texture rather than merely to serve as an emerg
ency also
Bach
measure.
added a viola da gamba to choir two in his last performance, a di eren
t part (and, presumably, player) from that of choir one. This is for the tenor 2
recitative and aria (Mein Jesus schweigt/Geduld) where the viola da gamba is adde
d to the existing continuo of violoncello and violone (and oboes in the recitati
ve). In other words, the gamba seems to be an addition rather than the substitut
ion that is often assumed. This gives both numbers a rather grittier sonority, p
erhaps portraying more vividly the taunting against which the beleaguered tenor
callsnal
listening
One
foraspect
patience.
in
leipzig
of Bachs performance that we have considered here is the way in w
hich the piece may originally have been heard in relation to the libretto availa
ble to the congregation. The text survives in a collection of Picanders poetry fr
om 1729, where its layout is entirely compatible with surviving libretti for oth
er Bach vocal works. All that the libretto presents is the text of the free poet
ry of arias and meditative choruses, each one cued by a reference to the point r
eached in
14
15
Matthews story. Thus the rst recitative-aria pair occurs When the woman had anoin
ted original
The
Jesus. listener would presumably have read each aria text while listening
to the familiar gospel narrative (interspersed with chorales, which would have b
een very familiar, but which are not listed in the libretto), drawing each of th
e fteen scenes together in the expectation of the meditation to come. We have t
hus tried to give some sense of the way the work falls into scenes, each culmina
ting in an aria. There are clearly some exceptions to this pattern, such as when
the scene is very short (e.g. Judass betrayal, between the arias Bu und Reu and Blut
e nur, du liebes Herz!), or when the aria seems to burst into the middle of a sce
ne (So ist mein Jesu nun gefangen). Most striking is the way the renewed call for
Jesuss cruci xion bursts in at the end of what is arguably the most beautiful ari
a, relating to Jesuss supreme act of love (Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben). He
re we get the sense of a scene that has been interrupted by the aria, and the re
turn to brutality is surely one of the most disturbing moments in the history of
western music. With the recurrence of the chorus La ihn kreuzigen a tone higher, t
here is a sense of intensi cation, but also perhaps of the change wrought by the
sentiment of the aria: we recognise it as precisely the same music, yet every n
ote is to
Trying
di follow
erent. Bachs vocal scoring and the instrumentation of his last performa
nce is not done in the name of a sort of pious literalism that condemns every ot
her approach to the realm of inauthenticity. It is rather an attempt to explore
the possibilities for creative expression within a particular set of historical
parameters (which can thereby become opportunities). These are thus very much th
e starting point for performance rather than the goal to which it is directed. I
n the event, historical details might begin to seem rather trivial if the perfor
mance reveals this work coming from a relatively obscure venue in eighteenth-cen
tury Europe to provide a musical experience that is almost on the threshold of w
hatJohn
is bu
emotionally
2008
bearable.
gramophone.co.uk
Bach St Matthew Passion | gramophone.co.uk
Author: Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
Having swept the board with their Award-winning Messiah, John Butt and the Duned

in Consort and Players proceed headlong into the summa of dramatic religious mas
terpieces. One imagines, however, that this highly singular approach has been ma
rinating in Butts mind for years. This is a reading (the first to draw on the 174
2 performing version with its re?allocation of continuo instruments) where schol
arly and musical penetration is indivisible in the strength of the approach and
the unswerving commitment of the players.
And players they are except that Butt argues here for a new dramatic understanding
of the Matthew (note the curious de?sanctification) where the work challenges t
he notion of parts in an opera, towards various voices which reflect the listeners ab
sorption of the conflicting positions both biographical and emotional of the mai
n protagonists and the most far-flung thresholds of human experience. This is ac
hieved using the main singers, from the eight principal voices, in different con
texts. Hence, as Butt explains in his illuminating note, the Evangelist may rall
y us to lament as an allegorical Daughter of Zion in the opening chorus before dar
ting in and out of the story in recitatives, chorus, aria and chorales, mixing u
p the past and present, first person and third person, in a web of intense and c
oherent narrative and reflection.
All of this presupposes a one-to-a-part troupe where all these subtle character
combinations can be perceived. With such a spectacularly clear and balanced soun
d from Philip Hobbs, these ambitious perspectives are powerfully realised; refre
shingly, too, Bachs novel in sound is presented in a small inter-reliant ensemble w
ithout the need for tiresome dogmatic mantras on historical rectitude. Indeed, o
ften so entwined are the textures that singers vowels are shadowed by instruments
in a close-knit rapport of exceptional immediacy.
For those steeped in both recent and old schools, this performance will resonate
with both, though it is not always so easy to summarise how. The thread of inte
nsity is achieved largely by the focus and roundness of the Dunedin Consorts pale
tte, the thrusting legatos (when called for) and the welcome presence of a stron
g, directed bass-line. Like Karl Richters 1958 recording also recorded in only fo
ur days momentum and expressive concentration are the sine qua non. In smaller u
nits, one witnesses the flexible interactions between sections, the appogiatur-at
ed phrasing, luminous textures and fast, forthright chorales all in the modern ga
it.
Such responses are relatively superficial because Butts St Matthew is truly origi
nal in spheres resonating beyond established parameters. In his story-teller, he
has found an Evangelist with the candid vulnerability of Helmut Krebs. Yet Nich
olas Mulroy brings his own striking naturalness of delivery, clarity of diction
and honesty. At the start of Part 2, especially, there are moments of disarming
reportage, such as the encounter with the High Priest where the Evangelist conve
ys a sickened response to Christs humiliation and a gutting catch in his voice at
the emptiness of Peters denial.
Yet it is Mulroys identification with the outstanding Christus of Matthew Brook w
hich raises the stakes in this performance. The timing between the two and the r
ealism of the musical choreography is both remarkably patient and animated. When
Jesus goes to Gethsemane, the austerity of the brief exchanges, between narrati
on and action, implies more than just the Gospel event of Christs retiring prayer
. The coloration explores, in microcosm, the Evangelists own heartfelt identifica
tion with the drama into which he seems unwittingly drawn, and which heightens,
almost unbearably, as the work unfolds.
The only downside of a single-part St Matthew is that, while the singers in Butts
words become familiar to us as the piece progresses (hearing them take several rol
es enhances their actual reality to us), this only works to advantage if they hav
e the tonal and musical range to sustain such an extended and exposed vision. Fo
r all the stylistic nuancing and deft ensemble work of the sopranos, their arias

rarely lift themselves beyond the generic. Ich will dir sounds unsure and snatche
d and So ist mein Jesus gefangen fails to demarcate the almost cosmic mystery (moon
and light have set in their anguish) alongside the admirable discipline of the c
rowds graphic interjections. This is a moment where Fritz Lehmanns shimmering 1949
reading has rarely been surpassed.

Among the disappointing arias, neither Aus Liebe nor Knnen Trnen (a struggle for Alto
2) approach the exceptional interest and quality of the finest examples. The que
sting Clare Wilkinson carries on her form from Messiah with a heartfelt Erbarme d
ich (Simon Joness obbligato violin playing is wonderfully poetic, as is Jonathan M
ansons mesmerising viola da gamba in Komm, ssses Kreuz). Brooks Mache dich, prefaced b
arguably the most assuaging recitative in musical history, is little short of m
asterful with the range of colour, risk and gentle courtesy he brings to this su
perlative emblem of unswerving faith.
No recorded St Matthew Passion, as I discovered in an exhaustive Collection in 200
5, comes without its blemishes but few parade such a compellingly fresh and raw
realism, one so strongly identifiable by its wilful clarity of intent that it as
ks new questions about what this great work can say to us.

Understandably, record companies often time the release of new recordings of the
Bach Passions to coincide with Lent, and there s no doubt that this one is the
pick of this year s crop. John Butt and his young Dunedin forces follow their mu
ch-admired version of Handel s Messiah with an equally startling and involving a
ccount of the Matthew Passion. It s minimalist Bach - there s just one singer to
a part, with two extras brought in for the chorale at the end of the opening ch
orus, while the instrumentation follows that of the final performance that Bach
is known to have conducted in Leipzig, probably in 1742. The sinewy meshing of v
ocal and instrumental lines that results is constantly involving. The performanc
e occasionally lacks monumentality, but its flexibility and clarity offer more t
han enough in compensation. There s no lack of drama in the solo singing either
- Nicholas Mulroy s Evangelist is tinglingly vivid, and contralto Clare Wilkinso
n s account of Erbarme Dich is beautifully coloured. This may be a Matthew Passi
on without starry names, but it is at least as good as any of the other period-i
nstrument versions available today.

AllMusic Review by Stephen Eddins [-]

Fresh from the success of a 2006 Classic FM Gramophone Award-winning recording o
f the Dublin version of Messiah, conductor John Butt and the Dunedin Consort and
Players have turned to Bach s Matthew Passion. This is an even more radical dep
arture from traditional performing practice than the Consort s 12-member chorus
for Messiah, which drew the soloists from the chorus. For the Matthew Passion, w

hich calls for a double chorus and soloists, Butt uses one singer on a part, wit
h the primary soloists, including the Evangelist and Jesus, drawn from the choru
ses. (He does use four additional singers for some of the smaller solo parts.) B
utt is able to achieve something remarkable with this ensemble: each individual
voice is clearly audible, but at the same time, the blend is smooth enough that
the sound is fully choral. The texture is wonderfully transparent and clean, but
one never feels a lack in the movements that call for a large, substantial soun
d. The decision to use one singer on a part is most striking in the arias accomp
anied by chorus; when a soloist is joined by one or two voices from the chorus,
the effect is magically intimate. The movements that use full double choir gain
in power set in relief against the smaller ensembles.
The singers all have young, smooth, natural, fresh-sounding voices and are fully
capable of handling the work s demands -- there is never the forced, strained s
ound that can sometimes characterize oratorio soloists. All eight singers delive
r outstanding performances, earnest and dramatically charged, that make the pass
ion s narrative element really compelling. Conductor Butt contributes to the urg
ency of the storytelling with a strong sense of the work s dramatic arc, driving
some parts with propulsiveness, and allowing the reflective moments all the tim
e they need to fully blossom. The double orchestra is scaled down in size to mat
ch the singing forces, and the sound is generally delicate, but always sufficien
t to deliver the power where the score requires it. The sound of Linn s SACD is
exceptionally clean but resonant, with a strong sense of presence. The freshness
and energy Butt brings to the score, the consistently high vocal quality of the
singers, and the naturalness, ease, and dramatic insightfulness of the performa
nces make this a recording that anyone who loves the Matthew Passion should seek
out.

independent.co.uk
Bach with some bite: How The St Matthew Passion went from zero to
Claudia Pritchard
When booking opened in May for this years BBC Proms, one of the first performance
s to sell out was that of a work that remained unplayed for nearly a century and
that even its composer heard probably only twice in his lifetime. The St Matthe
w Passion of J S Bach has been compared by the great Bach scholar and interprete
r John Eliot Gardiner to a great altarpiece by Veronese or Tintoretto. But direc
tor Peter Sellars, who brings a semi-staged production featuring conductor Sir S
imon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra to the Proms this Saturday, lo
oks higher for his analogy. For him, it is the musical equivalent of Michelangel
os Sistine Chapel: Its one of those achievements that we dont see again in the histo
ry of humanity, he says.
What is now universally accepted as a masterwork, by those within and outside th
e Christian faith, was written for liturgical use on Good Friday, 11 April 1727
at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. It tells the story of Christs crucifixion, and it
received, says Sellars, what we think was a rather cool response. But clearly the
composer knew that of all his massive output, the Passion was something excepti
onal. While the first performers would have worked from hurriedly inked parts, B
ach later wrote, in a meticulous hand, a full score, the biblical text picked ou
t in red. As the churchs cantor, he was recording his work for posterity.
That score exists still, although its condition is deteriorating. It was Felix M
endelssohn, 79 years after Bachs death in 1750, who rescued the piece from oblivi
on; as the fashionable young conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra he ch
ampioned many of Bachs works. Today, audiences are spoilt for choice, with perfor
mances by large amateur choirs, professional forces large and small and, sometim
es, only one voice to a part. This last interpretation was proposed by the Ameri

can Joshua Rifkin, best known for reviving the ragtime music of Scott Joplin, a
link between Bach and modern syncopation that is by no means coincidental.
The St Matthew Passion could, like so much of Bachs music, have become 18th-centur
y fish-and-chip wrapping paper, says the conductor Jonathan Willcocks, who next y
ear will conduct a sing-in for amateurs who want to give this great work a try. Ot
her lovers of the work will attend the annual Easter performance by the Bach Cho
ir, a tradition upheld over 30 years by Willcockss conductor father, Sir David Wi
llcocks, at the Royal Festival Hall. I was brought up hearing the very fine annua
l performances often with 250 to 300 voices. The impact of the Let him be crucifi
ed choruses, the scornful Hail King of the Jews chorus and the electrifying Barabbas
interjection was immense in a way that a small choir, however good, could not ma
tch. RFH audiences can also hear the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenments interp
retation, only days after the Bach Choirs. Like Handels Messiah, the work seems in
finitely adaptable, despite its considerable technical demands, and the appetite
for it is insatiable.
Its not difficult to see why. The St Matthew, one of only two surviving Bach Pass
ions, is audacious in its construction, calling for two, briefly, three, choirs,
double orchestra, and unusual instruments: the vulnerable oboe da caccia accomp
anies one aria, the fragile viola da gamba another. The days before Easter are t
raditionally a busy time for the oboe specialists in particular, who can find th
emselves on daily flights from country to country.
The Proms performance is a third outing for a production first staged in Berlin
in 2010, and most of the Proms soloists took part in the Berlin staging, their a
cting as critical as their voices to the impact of this fast unfolding drama. Re
nowned as an opera director, Sellars is particularly atuned to dance rhythms: in
1996, his staged Glyndebourne production of the Handel oratorio Theodora broke
new ground as chorus and soloists traced their vocal lines in gesture, picking o
ut the counterpoint in movement. It was a revelatory and moving experience for t
he audience.
Much of Bachs spirituality is expressed in dance, says Sellars, and many of the move
ments are dance movements. Staging is a crude way to put it, because its not theatr
e; but it calls for the performers whole being. The soloists and some instrumental
ists perform without written music. We get past the bar-lines. Once we have put t
he scores away, we get that call and response tradition of African church music.
When people have memorised their scores, they are singing and playing from thei
r hearts.
Is the piece, in effect, an opera? Bach kept applying for opera jobs and not gett
ing them, says Sellars. So he applied the traditions of opera, but the Passion is
not entertainment: its the most personal experience. This man Jesus is going to c
hange the world; he is radical, heals the sick, befriends outcasts, says, You sho
uld love one another. And within a week he is arrested, subjected to a travesty o
f a trial and executed ... the genius of Bach is that he depicts a spiritual pat
h as dialogue ... Bach has that sense of all of us are only going to make it than
ks to our friends.
The Royal Albert hall has such a collective power. The way emotion sweeps through
that place, he adds. Were a little nervous: the production was made for such speci
fic conditions in Berlin 360 degrees with the audience on all sides. The St Matt
hew Passion is not made for a proscenium arch. Were going to make some experiment
s.
Bach is thought have put his third choir in the swallows nest of his organ loft, th
e other two choruses singing, questioningly, at each other. At the Prom, Christi
an Gerhaher, as Christ, will stand apart from the other singers, emphasising his
absence from those who are trying to piece together this breaking news story. A

nd there is a twist in this tale of miraculous survival: despite its musical com
plexity, says Sellars: One of the most moving things, is that most of the perform
ers are silent for most of the piece.
St Matthew Passion, Royal Albert Hall (promenade tickets available on the day), Ra
dio 3 and online 6 Sept (bbc.co.uk/proms); Bach Choir, Royal Festival Hall, 29 M
ar 2015, OAE, Royal Festival Hall, 2 Apr (southbank.org.uk)
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