Choral works in focus

Discover more about new, exciting aspects of major choral works such as Bach’s St John Passion or Mozart’s C Minor Mass which have come to light during our editorial work. Or discover some less well-known, but extremely worthwhile compositions to enrich your concert programs.
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy – Die erste Walpurgisnacht (Erstausgabe)
R. Larry Todd

Mendelssohn: Walpurgisnacht / Walpurgis Night

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Mendelssohn’s colorful setting of Goethe’s ballad “Die erste Walpurgisnacht” (“The First Walpurgis Night”): It is not a biblical story but pagan rituals which form the core of Mendelssohn’s composition based on a ballad by Goethe: the pagans stage a colourful spectacle to frighten off Christians, enabling the former to celebrate their annual Walpurgis Night ritual undisturbed. Goethe’s grotesque yet humorous portrayal of the conflict provided Mendelssohn with a vivid musical raiment.

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Bach: Johannes-Passion von 1725
Meinrad Walter

J. S. Bach: St. John Passion 1725

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The St. John Passion was performed under Bach’s direction in Leipzig at least four times, but each time in a different form. And not all versions survive complete, so decisions need to be made for each performance nowadays. Increasingly the 1725 version with the opening chorus “O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß” is performed. The omission of “Herr, unser Herrscher” in this performance version is coupled with new discoveries. We hear the part of the evangelist as it was sung back then in Leipzig. In addition, highly dramatic arias such as “Himmel reiße, Welt erbebe” are heard to their best advantage.

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Werner Breig

„Thy statutes have been my songs“

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Heinrich Schütz probably regarded his last opus as an artistic statement of particular importance: he called it his “Schwanengesang” or swansong. But the work then fell into oblivion for several centuries. The edition in the Stuttgart Schütz Edition offers a unique interpretation of the “Schwanengesang” based on the surviving sources.

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