This time of year, the word "passion" takes on a special meaning. It's not about love or desire. It's about suffering and death. Today, in observance of Good Friday, we'll feature passion narratives by two very different composers: Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and Osvaldo Golijov's St. Mark Passion. They offer two very different takes on the same story, written three centuries apart.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Johann Sebastian Bach: Variation XXI from "Goldberg Variations"
Violinist Julian Rachlin, violist Nobuko Imai, and cellist Mischa Maisky
William Byrd: "Miserere Mihi" ("Have Mercy Upon Me")
Stile Antico
Musica Antica Early Music Festival, Bruges, Belgium
Peter Tchaikovsky: Nocturne in D Minor for Cello and Orchestra
Cellist and conductor Mischa Maisky with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra
New Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark
Johann Sebastian Bach: Final Aria from "Goldberg Variations"
Pianist Christopher Taylor
Van Cliburn Piano Competition, Fort Worth, Texas
Joseph Haydn: Excerpts from "Seven Last Words of Our Savior from the Cross," Op. 51
The Soyulla Ensemble with poet and narrator Michael Dennis Browne
House of Hope Presbyterian Church, St. Paul, Minnesota
Hour 2
Johann Sebastian Bach: Excerpts from "The Saint John Passion"
The Munich Bach Orchestra and Choir with conductor Karl Richter
Anthony Holborne: "The Sighs"
Capriccio Stravagante with conductor Skip Sempe
Musica Antica Early Music Festival, Bruges, Belgium
Francois Couperin: "Lesson One," from "Lessons for Tenebrae"
Soprano Sandrine Piau with Les Talens Lyriques and conductor Christopher Rousset
Osvaldo Golijov: "Tenebrae"
The Saint Lawrence String Quartet with clarinetist Todd Palmer
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Music Studio, St. Paul, Minnesota
Osvaldo Golijov: "Kaddish," from "The Passion of St. Mark"
The Passion Orchestra, Schola Cantorum of Caracas, Alberto Grau choir, singer Luciana Souza, and conductor Maria Guinand
Stuttgart Festival, Stuttgart, Germany
Johann Sebastian Bach: Excerpts from "St. Matthew Passion"
The Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra and Chorus with soprano Sibylla Rubens, alto Ingeborg Danz, tenor Lothar Odinius, basses Nathan Berg and Michael Nagy, and conductor Helmuth Rilling
Oregon Bach Festival, Eugene, Oregon
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