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St Matthew Passion discography

Notable recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion (Matthäus-Passion) are shown below in a sortable table.

History

The earliest recordings of the St Matthew Passion were released on 78 records, although this medium was problematic for such a long work, because the discs only offered about 5 minutes per side. The first recording of the work was conducted by David McKinley Williams with the choir of St. Bartholomew's Church, New York in 1930, but it was not complete.[1] There is a live recording of Serge Koussevitzky conducting a complete performance in Boston on Good Friday 1937, sung in English. This has been reissued on CD.

Stereophonic recordings and spatial aspects of the work

While historic recordings give an opportunity to hear some of the great Bach singers of the past (such as Kathleen Ferrier on the Jacques recording), the introduction of stereophonic sound marked a clear improvement in the musical experience as regards the choral writing. For this complex work, the limited pool of musicians available to Bach in Leipzig was divided between two choirs and orchestras plus a chorus of boy sopranos in the first movement. Choirs I and II and the orchestras were physically separated,[2] and the dramatic nature of their interaction puts mono recordings at a disadvantage. In the case of the Karl Münchinger stereo recording from 1964, the engineers not only captured spatial aspects of the performance in the Ludwigsburg Palace, but also made a conscious effort to give a different acoustic to each of three elements of time identified in Picander's libretto, the time-frame being divided into

Historically informed performance

The work was first recorded by large choirs and orchestras. From the late 1960s, historically informed performances (HIP) tried to adhere more to the sounds of the composer's lifetime. In his church music generally, and in this work in particular, Bach wrote for boys choirs and for comparatively small orchestras of Baroque instruments (nowadays these instruments, often referred to as "period instruments", are sometimes antiques and sometimes reconstructions).

Historically informed performances set a trend for recordings with smaller groups which is taken to an extreme in recordings using only one voice per part. Some scholars believe that Bach used only one singer for a vocal part in the choral movements, although the number of singers Bach would have deployed continues to be the subject of debate.[4] Recordings with one voice per part are marked OVPP in this discography. On some of these recordings, the solo singer is reinforced in choral movements with a larger orchestra by a ripieno singer (OVPP+R).

Significant recordings

The selection is taken from the 281 recordings listed on the Bach Cantatas Website as of 2021, beginning with a recording from 1939 by a symphony orchestra and choir to match (the performance conducted by Willem Mengelberg). In 1970 the first HIP recording appeared, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The first OVPP recording appeared in 2003, conducted by Paul McCreesh.

Table of recordings

The sortable listing is taken mostly from the selection provided by Aryeh Oron on the Bach Cantatas Website.

The information lists for one recording typically:

  1. ^ Novello edition: music edited by Atkins & Elgar; English translation by Johnson & Troutbeck. Omits Nos. 11, 21, 65, 66; Abridged Nos. 10, 12. Released on 78s, re-released on LPs
  2. ^ later re-issued (choruses & arias only) on Deutsche Grammophon
  3. ^ collaboration of two conductors (and brothers) and their boys' choirs, re-issued in 2005 Berlin Classics
  4. ^ 5th recording Richter, recorded at Herkulessaal, Munich Residenz; last recording of work by Richter (recorded 2 years before his death)
  5. ^ also on DVD, filmed and recorded at King's College Chapel, Cambridge
  6. ^ 2001 Grammy Award for "Best Choral Performance", 2001 Gramophone magazine award for "Best Baroque Vocal Recording"
  7. ^ also on DVD, filmed and recorded at Sint-Joriskerk, Amersfoort

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 1 / Complete Recordings 1900-1949". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Bach, J S: St Matthew Passion, BWV244 (Jacobs)". Presto Music. prestoclassical.co.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  3. ^ The recording (Media notes). (Notes by Ray Minshull, the producer for Decca). For an analysis of the structure of the libretto, see St Matthew Passion structure
  4. ^ a b Cooper, Katherine (9 March 2017). "Sir John Eliot Gardiner revisits the St Matthew Passion". Presto Music. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 2 / Complete Recordings 1950-1959". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) / St Matthew Passion". musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 3 / Complete Recordings 1960-1969". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Bach, J S: St Matthew Passion, BWV244" (in German). magazin.klassik.com. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 4 / Complete Recordings 1970-1979". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 5 / Complete Recordings 1980-1989". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 6 / Complete Recordings 1990-1999". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 7 / Complete Recordings 2000-2009". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Bach, J S: St Matthew Passion, BWV244 (Kuijken)". Presto Music. prestoclassical.co.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  14. ^ a b c "Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 / Recordings - Part 8 / Complete Recordings 2010-2019". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  15. ^ Kemp, Lindsay (May 2020). "JS Bach St Matthew Passion (Cleobury)". Gramophone. Retrieved 18 November 2021.

External links