Bach’s St Matthew Passion

Bach’s St Matthew Passion is considered one of the greatest music scores ever written. First heard in 1727 in St Thomas’ Church in Leipzig Germany, the piece is performed in two parts. The first tells the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. The second, depicts the trial, crucifixion and burial of Jesus.

I had the pleasure of listening to the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs (SPC) and the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra perform this complex, beautiful, sombre and dramatic work on Holy Saturday in the near full, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.

I could not fault the soloists, choirs and orchestra whose performances were moving as they told a story of despair and hope.

The chorus takes on different roles, from the crowd calling for Jesus’s death to the puzzled disciples. There are also a number of arias for specific characters including Jesus, Judas, Peter, Pilot and the Evangelist who acts as a narrator. Each member of the orchestra gave their own performance, moving their whole bodies with the music as they played their instruments.

SPC is led by an animated Music Director, Brett Weymark. His love of Bach’s work was evident as he masterfully conducted this piece. Founded in 1920, SPC is made up of four choirs, who perform around the city. The last time SPC performed St Matthew Passion was ten years ago.

I have to specially mention the children in the choir. St Matthew Passion is epic, being sung in German from start to finish and runs for three hours. It’s challenging for the singers and the audience, yet the kids (some as young as five or six) showed such discipline, harmonizing beautifully with the adult choristers and sitting still when it was not their turn to sing. Unfortunately, they didn’t sing in the second half (I can understand why – they were on stage for an hour and half as it was) and did not get to bow at the end, but deserve recognition.

Having studied German for seven years, I sat through the first half without a program wanting to fully experience the music and the singing and hoping I might pick up on some words (although I’m pretty rusty). While I was moved by the performance, I joined the throng of patrons at intermission buying a program to better understand the story. The program had both the German and the English translation and I wish I had of bought one at the start! With the program in front of me, I could hear the German words being sung a lot more clearly and the meaning of some words came back to me. The translation of course also helped in understanding the story.

Whether you are a Christian or not, Bach’s work continues to move audiences almost three centuries later and its themes of betrayal, sacrifice, redemption and love speak to everyone. There is a videoon The Sydney Opera House website that asks the choristers why they are passionate about St Matthew Passion. To quote Conductor, Brett Weymark “we all live in a society and this piece is essentially about what happens to someone who is different”.

Shannon O’Connell