{"id":102150,"date":"2024-03-06T15:17:04","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T20:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=102150"},"modified":"2024-03-07T07:00:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T12:00:01","slug":"preview-music-met-presents-second-canadian-performance-bachs-st-markus-passion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/03\/06\/preview-music-met-presents-second-canadian-performance-bachs-st-markus-passion\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | Music At The Met Presents The Second Canadian Performance Of Bach\u2019s St. Markus Passion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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L-R: Philippe Gagn\u00e9 (Photo courtesy of the artist): J.S. Bach (Public domain); Clarence Frazer (Photo: Brenden Friesen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

J.S. Bach\u2019s St. Mark Passion will be presented in Toronto on March 29, Good Friday \u2014 only the second time the work has been performed in Canada. The performance takes place at the Metropolitan United Church downtown.<\/p>\n

The music for Bach\u2019s St. Mark Passion, BMV 247, first performed on March 23, 1731 (Good Friday), has been lost to time. The libretto, however, by German poet Christian Friedrich Henrici, survived in a book of poetry, and provides the blueprint to reconstructing the work.<\/p>\n

The Met Choir and Baroque Orchestra are joined by soloists tenor Philippe Gagn\u00e9 as Evangelist, and baritone Clarence Frazer as Jesus. Minister of Music Jonathan Oldengarm will direct, and play continuo. He will also give a pre-concert talk prior to the performance.<\/p>\n

Reconstructing Markus Passion<\/h2>\n

The version that will be performed is a reconstruction by Dutch harpsichordist\/pianist\/composer Robert Koolstra. Published in 2017, it is probably the most well known version of the St. Mark\u2019s Passion, and has been performed in the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and North America.<\/p>\n

Koolstra specialized in Early Music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and performs in Europe, Asia and North America as the continuo player with a number of different ensembles. He is a solo recitalist on both the organ and the harpsichord.<\/p>\n

The Evidence<\/h3>\n

In 1754, Musikalische Bibliothek, a kind of baroque music magazine, published an obituary of J.S. Bach. Bach had died in 1750, and it\u2019s speculated that the short biography had been written by Carl Philip Emanuel, and Bach\u2019s former pupil Johann Friedrich Agricola.<\/p>\n

That obituary describes Bach\u2019s five passions, of which only St. Matthew and St. John have survived intact to the present day. It wasn\u2019t until the 19th century that the idea of reconstruction began to take hold. The full libretto was preserved by Henrici, writing under the name Picander, in a book of his collected works published in 1732. He also noted that his Passion had been performed at St. Thomas\u2019 in Leipzig on Good Friday 1731, conducted by J.S. himself.<\/p>\n

A second version of the libretto, apparently performed on Good Friday on 1744, was discovered in St. Petersburg in 2009. It includes two extra arias not present in the original version, while leaving out one of the chorales. It\u2019s that version which Koolstra used in his own reconstruction.<\/p>\n

Parody<\/h3>\n

A parody in musicology is a piece where the composer has revisited one of his earlier works, incorporating and reworking them into a new piece. It was a common practice in the 18th century.<\/p>\n

The funeral music of 1727 for the Electress Christiane Eberhardine von Brandenburg Bayreuth, called Trauerode, (La\u00df, F\u00fcrstin, la\u00df noch einen Strahl, BMV 198), corresponds to the structure of St. Mark\u2019s Passion, and an old catalogue mentions the instrumentation, and opening chorus for an anonymous version of the passion, which just happens to correspond to Picander\u2019s opening text.<\/p>\n

Other passages seem to quote from the two arias from\u00a0Widerstehe doch der S\u00fcnde, BWV 54, and two choruses from the\u00a0St Mark Passion\u00a0may have been reused in the later Christmas Oratorio.<\/p>\n

From these and other clues found in his research, Koolstra came up with his reconstructed St. Mark\u2019s. His full score can be downloaded [HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/p>\n

The Soloists<\/h2>\n

Canadian\/Korean baritone Clarence Frazer<\/strong> is an alumnus of the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s Ensemble Studio, and Calgary Opera\u2019s McPhee Artist Development Program. This season, his schedule includes performances with Vancouver Opera, Orchestre classique de Montr\u00e9al, and Symphony Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n

Philippe Gagn\u00e9<\/strong> specializes in Baroque repertoire, and has performed with ensembles all over the world, including Tafelmusik, Les Violons du Roy, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre M\u00e9tropolitain, Orchestre symphonique de Qu\u00e9bec, Ensemble Caprice, and many more.<\/p>\n