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- Mauricio Kagel
Sankt-Bach Passion (1981)
(for solo-voices, mixed choir and orchestra)- Henry Litolff’s Verlag GmbH & Co. KG (World)
- speaker,Mz,T,Bar + childrchchoir; 3.3+ca.3+bcl.2+cbn/1.3.3.1/timp.3perc/pf.hpd.cel.org.2hp/str
- childrchchoir
- Speaker, Mezzo-soprano, Tenor, Baritone
- 1 hr 40 min
Programme Note
In this large-scale composition for soloists, choir and orchestra, the life of Johann Sebastian Bach is told musically in the form of one of the passions written by the master from Leipzig himself.
Only original sources were used, in particular the necrology on J. S. Bach written by C. Ph. E. Bach and Agricola in 1751. Sections of this text are sung by a tenor, who embodies the classical role of an evangelist; mezzo-soprano and baritone comment on the most important stages of the master's life. A narrator, representing Bach's character, recites fragments from original manuscripts. The piece is divided into 33 numbers, which are often linked by chorales. The choir and boys' choir play a large part in the musical design of the whole, either by musically underlining the events or by reciting key experiences of Bach himself.
This is my most important piece in recent years. It is certainly an acknowledgement of the importance of the composer Bach for us all, but also a statement on a wealth of problems, including the role of the composer in Baroque society.
M.K.
(Translation by Edition Peters)