Episode 49: Bach's Passions - Interview with Daniel R. Melamed

Five Books for Catholics

The books reviewed in this episode are:

1. Hearing Bach's Passions by Daniel R. Melamed
2. Lutheranism, Anti-Judaism, and Bach's St. John Passion: With an Annotated Literal Translation of the Libretto by Michael Marissen
3. Bach in Berlin. Nation and Culture in Mendelssohn's Revival of the St. Matthew Passion by Celia Applegate
4. Johann Sebastian Bach's St John Passion. Genesis, Transmission, and Meaning by Alfred Dürr
5. Rethinking Bach by Bettina Varwig

Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), one the greatest Western composers, composed various Passions: sacred oratorios that set the Gospel narrative of Christ’s Passion to music. Two are extant: the St. John Passion (Johannes-Passion, BWV 245) and the St. Matthew Passion (Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244). The former was first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday, 1724, and later revised extensively. The latter was first performed in Leipzig on Good Friday, 1727 and revised between 1743-46. In addition to the Gospel text, the libretto of each contains verses that dramatize or meditate upon episodes of Christ's Passion. These two Passions by Bach are now treasured as two of his greatest compositions and performed frequently throughout the world. Moreover, it was Felix Mendelssohn’s performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829 that brought Bach to his current prominence.

Daniel R. Melamed is professor of music in musicology at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. His research interests focus on J.S. Bach, Mozart-era opera, and music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He is president of the American Bach Society and director of the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project. He has authored Listening to Bach: The Mass in B Minor and the Christmas Oratorio, Hearing Bach’s Passions, and J. S. Bach and the German Motet, and co-authored (with Michael Marissen) An Introduction to Bach Studies. He is editor of Bach Studies 2 and Bach Perspectives 8: J. S. Bach and the Oratorio.

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