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| Philippe Sly mock conducts the Dallas Symphony (left) |
When J. S. Bach came to write his St. Matthew Passion
in the 1720s, the passion, as a musical form, had grown to allow
orchestra, choirs, and non-scriptural choruses and arias. But even by
the standard of the Baroque passion, the Passion According to St.
Matthew is exceptional for its musical richness and its grand scope.
Musically, the score is of
imposing length, and calls for double orchestra and double choir—three
choirs, at one point. The musical textures range from complex
counterpoint to simple hymns. Dramatically, the point of view shifts
regularly, from the narrative of the Evangelist, to the actual words of
Jesus and his disciples, to reflections that speak for the individual
believer. But in Bach's hands, the effect that the Passion gives is not
one of a brilliant collage, but a single, sustained, somber
meditation—appropriate for a work that was first performed as part of a
church service.
Philippe Sly sings Mahler's "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen"
Scholars believe the first performance of the St. Matthew Passion
may have been in 1727. It was certainly performed on Good Friday of
1729, and perhaps at several other Good Friday services during Bach's
life. It then dropped from public view until 1829, when it was
triumphantly revived by Felix Mendelssohn, crystallizing a revival of
interest in Bach that grew throughout the 19th century and still
continues.
The text of the passion was
created by the German writer Christian Henrici, who wrote under the pen
name of Picander. Like Bach, he lived in Leipzig, and it is believed
that he and Bach worked closely together on the text.
There are three strands in the
text: the actual text from the book of Matthew; Picander's own poetry;
and the pre-existing hymns, or chorales, which Bach incorporates into
the score, which would have been immediately recognizable by his first
hearers.
Sly can next be heard as Panthée in Berlioz's epic Les Troyens with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg from April 15-17. He'll be joined by another all-star cast featuring Joyce DiDonato as Didon, Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Cassandre and a barihunk quartet of Stéphane Degout as Chorèbe, Jérôme Varnier, Nicolas Courjal as Narbal and Sly.
