Smells and Bells

On March 22 at 8 PM, Wheaton College was graced with the Baroque specialists of Emmanuel Music in Boston joined by our very own peers in the Wheaton Chorale and Chamber Singers, to perform  Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John’s Passion. I personally (and am a little ashamed to admit) had yet to attend a musical performance or any religious experience for that matter in our very own Cole Chapel. The whole atmosphere and feeling in the air had changed once the performance began. One definitely did not have to be a religious minded listener to feel the electric spirituality and vibe that filled the room. The dramatic music told a story even when the words were not in English. The intensity and clarity of the notes and melodies flowed together so well, that it was very clear I think to anyone that this was a highly religious experience.  This may be due to my own Catholic/Christian background and that is what I associate religious music to sound like, but it left me wonder...

I did not grow up with any sort of structured religion, but what I did know from a young age was music. I loved to sing and dance to the radio, and my family would get together at holidays and bring multiple guitars so we could make music together. Having been involved with many choruses over the years, I have sung a great number of spiritual pieces, but nothing like Bach's St. John Passion. I was at once blown away by the first note; the intensity of the piece is set up from the very beginning. Not being able to understand the words unless I focused intently on the program, I tuned in to the music alone. Its complexity and beauty really spoke to me. I did not experience the concert on a spiritual level as many others most likely did; I really had little context for the text itself. However, I can imagine that the musical elements complimented it perfectly, alternating between full and strong choral lines and softer, more warbling solos. Also, being able to focus on the musi...

Performing choral music has always triggered my emotions, but singing the St. John Passion, was more emotionally complex than anything I had sung before.  The melodies follow the words in a carefully structured pattern, bringing greater meaning to the text and evoking deep emotions.  I have always found that singing with a group brings greater joy or sadness, but I had never performed a piece a large as Bach’s contested St. John Passion.  Each section utilizes both melody and text that evokes emotion in the listener.  It is the link between the melody and words that was brought up during Monday’s panel discussion, which I believe allows a vast array of emotions to be felt and expressed.  Professor Brumberg-Kraus used the example of part 20, a tenor aria that discusses a whipped and blood-stained back is like the heavens that created a rainbow, following the great flood.  It is an allusion to the curved arc of the shapes, which another professo...