St. John Passion
Unfortunately I waited until my last semester to hear a (somewhat) religious service in the Wheaton Chapel. On the bright side, the St. John Passion service this past Sunday was one of the better recitations of the iconic story that is so central to Christian beliefs. Growing up in the Episcopal church, I was exposed to the Passion of Christ every Palm Sunday. I remember it always being the least enjoyable for a kid, as its length conquers the attention span of a child any day. However, the story sticks like glue. The various soloists and accompanying music is legendary, and is a reflection of the story's importance to Christianity.
The Boston symphony and accompanying Wheaton Chorale delivered an intimate and 'passionate' performance on Sunday night. I had never been to a performance quite like this one: there was no applause and no breaks, thus creating a cohesive and overpowering musical delivery. But what made the St. John Passion so intriguing for someone who grew up in the Episcopal church was that it was sung in GERMAN. Other than the obvious fact that the majority of the audience couldn't understand the words, the performance made me think of religious story-telling in a new light.
As soon as the performance went to German (and when I wasn't using my leaflet as a reference) I was forced to understand the Passion through other elements. Here's a story I, and countless other readers of the Bible can easily identify as Christ's final moments in Jerusalem, but sung (beautifully I might add) in a language I cannot understand. The power of the Passion is translated through the orchestra and combination of singers both professional and not, young and old. It's rather cheesy, but the Passion depended on passion for me to understand it.
These stories are universal. Some sects believe they can interpret them and deliver them in individualistic ways, but the importance doesn't change. So what it was in German? Luckily I'm not 11 years old anymore and the resonance of the Passion is much clearer. One last note, because I knew Bach's piece would be a great way thing to fall asleep to and enter the world of dreams, I threw this version of the Passion on later Sunday night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAJ4Be5cMWY
- Stu
The Boston symphony and accompanying Wheaton Chorale delivered an intimate and 'passionate' performance on Sunday night. I had never been to a performance quite like this one: there was no applause and no breaks, thus creating a cohesive and overpowering musical delivery. But what made the St. John Passion so intriguing for someone who grew up in the Episcopal church was that it was sung in GERMAN. Other than the obvious fact that the majority of the audience couldn't understand the words, the performance made me think of religious story-telling in a new light.
As soon as the performance went to German (and when I wasn't using my leaflet as a reference) I was forced to understand the Passion through other elements. Here's a story I, and countless other readers of the Bible can easily identify as Christ's final moments in Jerusalem, but sung (beautifully I might add) in a language I cannot understand. The power of the Passion is translated through the orchestra and combination of singers both professional and not, young and old. It's rather cheesy, but the Passion depended on passion for me to understand it.
These stories are universal. Some sects believe they can interpret them and deliver them in individualistic ways, but the importance doesn't change. So what it was in German? Luckily I'm not 11 years old anymore and the resonance of the Passion is much clearer. One last note, because I knew Bach's piece would be a great way thing to fall asleep to and enter the world of dreams, I threw this version of the Passion on later Sunday night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAJ4Be5cMWY
- Stu
I like that you talked about how hearing a well know piece in German really forced you to listen to the music itself. You could not rely on the words to tell you the story, you had to use your memory and knowledge of the story and apply it to what you were hearing. Singing the piece in German was certainly a different experience. When we first started learning the work I was not very familiar with it, those I was with the story. Over the semester I learned the music without knowing the translation. However, when we got the translation a few weeks before the performance I was shocked by some of the translations. Certain sections of the work sound like they are happy parts when truly it is crowd saying horrible things and the music sounds happy in order to demonstrate the crowds sarcasm. Bach did this kind of thing in many place. It is incredible to perform the piece, but to know what you are saying even though it sounds like you are saying something completely different is quite the experience.
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