<<

Bach Gardiner 1685-1750

St John Passion Johannespassion Passion selon saint Jean BWV 245

Mark Padmore tenor (/ 13, 20/arioso 34) Hanno Müller-Brachmann bass () Peter Harvey bass (Pilatus/arioso 19/arias 24, 32)

Bernarda Fink alto (arias 7, 30) Joanne Lunn soprano ( 9) soprano (Ancilla/aria 35)

Julian Clarkson bass (Petrus) Robert Murray tenor (Servus I) Paul Tindall tenor (Servus II)

Monteverdi Kati Debretzeni leader

Live broadcast by NDR Kultur from the Kaiserdom, Königslutter, 22 March 2003

2 Monteverdi Choir Basses Violas Bassoon Julian Clarkson Katherine McGillivray Sopranos Robert Davies Janes Rogers Donna Deam Samuel Evans Lisa Cochrane Suzanne Flowers Dennis Götte Lawrence Wallington Katharine Fuge Cellos Organ Joanne Lunn Richte Van der Meer English Baroque Soloists Silas John Standage Charlotte Mobbs Catherine Rimer Belinda Yates I Richard Campbell Kati Debretzeni Altos Double Bass Nicolette Moonen Mark Chambers Valerie Botwright Lucy Howard William Missin Deirdre Ward Flutes William Towers Emilia Benjamin Rachel Beckett Richard Wyn Roberts Christine Garratt Violins II Tenors Anne Schumann Mark Anderson Penelope Spencer Michael Niesemann Andrew Hewitt Jane Gillie James Eastaway Robert Murray Hildburg Williams Paul Tindall

3 CD 1 35:23 Part I

1 9:26 1 Chorus Herr, unser Herrscher, dessen Ruhm 2 2:31 2 Evangelist, Jesus Jesus ging mit seinen Jüngern Chorus Jesum von Nazareth Evangelist, Jesus Jesus spricht zu ihnen Chorus Jesum von Nazareth Evangelist, Jesus Jesus antwortete 3 0:53 3 O große Lieb, o Lieb ohn’ alle Maße 4 1:10 4 Evangelist, Jesus Auf dass das Wort erfüllet würde 5 0:55 5 Chorale Dein Will gescheh, Herr Gott, zugleich 6 0:44 6 Evangelist Die Schar aber und der Oberhauptmann 7 4:41 7 Aria: Alto Von den Stricken meiner Sünden 8 0:12 8 Evangelist Simon Petrus aber folgete Jesu nach 9 3:24 9 Aria: Soprano Ich folge dir gleichfalls 10 3:13 10 Evangelist, Ancilla, Petrus, Jesus, Servus I Derselbige Jünger war dem Hohenpriester bekannt 11 2:04 11 Chorale Wer hat dich so geschlagen 12 2:19 12 Evangelist Und Hannas sandte ihn gebunden Chorus Bist du nicht seiner Jünger einer? Evangelist, Petrus, Servus II Er leugnete aber und sprach 13 2:33 13 Aria: Tenore Ach, mein Sinn 14 1:19 14 Chorale Petrus, der nicht denkt zurück

4 CD2 79:24 Part II

1 1:15 15 Chorale Christus, der uns selig macht 2 4:22 16 Evangelist, Pilatus Da führeten sie Jesum Chorus Wäre dieser nicht ein Übeltäter Evangelist, Pilatus Da sprach Pilatus zu ihnen Chorus Wir dürfen niemand töten Evangelist, Pilatus, Jesus Auf dass erfüllet würde das Wort Jesu 3 1:33 17 Chorale Ach großer König, groß zu allen Zeiten 4 2:11 18 Evangelist, Pilatus, Jesus Da sprach Pilatus zu ihm Chorus Nicht diesen, sondern Barrabam! Evangelist Barrabas aber war ein Mörder 5 2:17 19 Arioso: Basso Betrachte, meine Seel 6 8:59 20 Aria: Tenore Erwäge, wie sein blutgefärbter Rücken 7 5:52 21 Evangelist Und die Kriegsknechte flochten eine Krone von Dornen Chorus Sei gegrüßet, lieber Jüdenkönig! Evangelist, Pilatus Und gaben ihm Backenstreiche Chorus Kreuzige, kreuzige! Evangelist, Pilatus Pilatus sprach zu ihnen Chorus Wir haben ein Gesetz Evangelist, Pilatus, Jesus Da Pilatus das Wort hörete 8 1:00 22 Chorale Durch dein Gefängnis, Gottes Sohn 9 3:54 23 Evangelist Die Jüden aber schrieen und sprachen Chorus Lässest du diesen los Evangelist, Pilatus Da Pilatus das Wort hörete Chorus Weg, weg mit dem, kreuzige ihn! Evangelist, Pilatus Spricht Pilatus zu ihnen Chorus Wir haben keinen König denn den Kaiser Evangelist Da überantwortete er ihn, dass er gekreuziget würde 10 4:34 24 Aria: Basso con Coro Eilt, ihr angefochtnen Seelen 11 2:04 25 Evangelist Allda kreuzigten sie ihn Chorus Schreibe nicht: der Jüden König Evangelist, Pilatus Pilatus antwortet

5 12 1:03 26 Chorale In meines Herzens Grunde 13 3:34 27 Evangelist Die Kriegsknechte aber Chorus Lasset uns den nicht zerteilen Evangelist, Jesus Auf dass erfüllet würde die Schrift 14 1:11 28 Chorale Er nahm alles wohl in Acht 15 1:19 29 Evangelist, Jesus Und von Stund an nahm sie der Jünger zu sich 16 5:02 30 Aria: Alto Es ist vollbracht! 17 0:30 31 Evangelist Und neiget das Haupt und verschied 18 4:23 32 Aria: Basso [con Chorale] Mein teurer Heiland, lass dich fragen 19 0:27 33 Evangelist Und siehe da, der Vorhang im Tempel 20 0:56 34 Arioso: Tenore Mein Herz, in dem die ganze Welt 21 7:03 35 Aria: Soprano Zerfließe, mein Herze, in Fluten der Zähren 22 2:13 36 Evangelist Die Juden aber 23 1:17 37 Chorale O hilf, Christe, Gottes Sohn 24 2:13 38 Evangelist Darnach bat Pilatum Joseph von Arimathia 25 7:56 39 Chorus Ruht wohl, ihr heiligen Gebeine 26 2:19 40 Chorale Ach Herr, lass dein lieb Engelein

6 7 There was a time, not far distant, when public familiarity with Bach’s church music was confined to a canon of four large works: the B minor Mass, the Christmas and the two surviving Passion settings. Of these, the St John Passion tended to be regarded as the poor relation – considered cruder and less finely honed than the iconic St Matthew Passion. It is doubtful whether Bach saw things in quite this way. From the inception of his first cantata cycle in May 1723, he set himself the herculean task of composing new music each week for all the festivals in the church year, his initial target being a minimum of two complete annual cycles, each with a Passion setting as its high point. The St John Passion, written for 1724, was to be the central jewel in the necklace of cantatas he had fashioned so far. In the course of performing and recording all of Bach’s surviving church cantatas during the year 2000 we were able to witness the unstoppable creative flow of his first two years in Leipzig, the Bach’s first Leipzig Passion subtle and resourceful means he found to reflect and adumbrate the theological themes of each church feast, and the linking of them by twos, threes and fours in order to provide continuity from one week to the next. We became aware of how, in his choice of cantata texts and in his selection of in the period before Lent 1724, Bach carefully prepared his listeners for the contemplative commentary that the chorales were to fulfil on Good Friday in his first Passion setting. Our familiarity with these cantatas also served to modify and enrich our interpretation of the work when we revisited it in 2004. It all pointed towards viewing the St John Passion as a climactic

8 statement of a very personal kind in which Bach Luther’s musical adviser, Johann Walter, while several sought to crystallise a number of the themes and miles to the west in the castle church at Gotha, none techniques he had been systematically developing other than Bach himself had travelled from his post in in his cantatas over the preceding year, experiment- Weimar to deputise for the indisposed resident court ing with different ways of combining and ordering composer in a performance of up-to-the-minute choruses, chorales, and arias. Passion music. Was Bach, in 1717, performing In his first year in Leipzig, and in the lead up to the someone else’s music, or his own – conceivably an Passion, Bach had announced himself to his Leipzig early version of his lost St Mark Passion? Neither the employers and listeners in bold, uncompromising music nor the text has been recovered, but sub - terms as a creator of ‘ in sound’. With liturgi- sequent Passion settings over the next few years give cal involvement shrunk to a minimum in the Good us a clue to the tastes then prevalent at the court of Friday , his music could for the first time the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, with his small hand-picked occupy centre stage and constitute a ‘harmonious audience, and at similar courts throughout Germany. divine service’ in itself (to use Telemann’s phrase In 1719 a Passion meditation by Reinhard Keiser to about one of his own cantata cycles). For twenty a libretto by Christian Friedrich Hunold was being years he had been waiting for such a chance: to show performed at Gotha, and in 1725, a year after the on a large canvas what modern music – his music – St John Passion, the new Kapellmeister, Gottfried could do towards defining and strengthening belief. Heinrich Stölzel, presented his setting of Brockes’ This was his largest-scale work to date, one compri- Passion. The language of Hunold and Brockes is sing forty separate movements and lasting over one physically explicit, garish and saccharine by turns, hundred minutes, and since it greatly exceeded any but it clearly corresponded to a type of non-liturgical liturgical needs or directives, one can understand devotional literature in vogue at ducal courts and in ’s view that it was ‘patently over-written’. a cosmopolitan city such as Hamburg. How far Bach To set the St John Passion in context, we might went down this road in his Gotha Passion of 1717 begin by taking a bird’s-eye view of the considerable (always assuming that such a work ever existed) is diversity of musical fare available to worshippers hard to say, though some scholars think that move- during Passiontide right across Saxony around this ments from it were recycled in his second version time. In Leipzig on Good Friday 1717, for example, of the St John Passion in 1725. a Passion oratorio (author and composer unknown) In the early years of the eighteenth century an was being performed for the first time during the appetite had clearly grown for Passiontide medi - morning service at the Neukirche. Up the road at tations in music in a variety of forms. There were St Thomas’s, in time-honoured fashion, the Thomaner thus new opportunities for composers to meet this were quietly delivering the mainly monophonic setting demand, just as there had been for painters on either of the St John Passion traditionally attributed to side of the denominational divide in the previous

9 century (the key figures then, of course, being Rubens Week, there was no music. But gradually the Passion and Rembrandt). For sections of the clergy, these story, which had formerly been sung in simple innovations were to be cautiously welcomed since plainchant, humbly and reverently, began to be sung ‘devotion... must always be renewed, animated, and with many kinds of instruments in the most elaborate as it were, fanned, otherwise sleep will be the sequel’. fashion, occasionally mixing in a little setting of a Introducing Stölzel’s setting of Brockes’ Passion, Passion chorale which the whole congregation joined the court preacher in Gotha wrote, ‘This story is so in singing. And then the mass of instruments fell to diligently presented that Christ seems to be portrayed again. When, in a large town, this Passion music was before its hearers’ very eyes and crucified again done for the first time – with twelve violins, many among them.’ And that was surely the point. New oboes, bassoons and other instruments – many music could now be attached to texts in which the people were astonished and did not know what to Passion story was retold in graphic, even lurid, terms, make of it. In the pew of a noble family in church, many with periodic eruptions of outrage and protest – a kind ministers and noble ladies were present, who sang of heckling by the contemporary witnesses – built into the first Passion chorale out of their books with great the narration. devotion. But when this theatrical music began, all All the ingredients for an explosive Bach première these people were thrown into the greatest bewilder - were therefore in place on 7 April 1724. The faithful ment, looked at each other and said, ‘What will come of Leipzig had particular sensitivities to what they of this?’ considered fitting in musical terms to mark this most While we cannot be certain whether this refers to important of services in the Lutheran year and their Bach in Leipzig (some scholars consider Dresden as entrenched scepticism would have left them more likely) Christian Gerber’s account reveals one unprepared for Bach’s adventurous musical and end of the critical spectrum. Unfortunately there is religious thought. He himself later confessed to the no direct testimony as to how Bach’s Passion setting authorities that his music was ‘incomparably harder was received, but given the prominence of Good and more intricate’ than any other music performed Friday commemorations in the Leipzig social and at the time and required, as a result, a better quality religious calendar and the relative novelty of figural of musician – and more of them. A document has music (authorised and accepted by the city fathers survived from 1732, which provides us with a clue only in the last three years) we can be sure that it was as to their likely reaction. The Pietist pastor Christian controversial. How could it have been otherwise? Gerber describes how: None of Bach’s contemporaries, and certainly none of his predecessors, had ambitions for exegetical music Fifty and more years ago it was the custom for the on an equivalent scale. He might have slipped his organ to remain silent in church on Palm Sunday, and Passion text under the radar of Consistorial scrutiny on that day, because it was the beginning of Holy on this occasion, but by taking matters into his own

10 hands in announcing its performance in the Thomas- This approach had a perfectly respectable pedigree, kirche when it was the turn of the Nikolaikirch e, he which theologians have traced back to the early may inadvertently have put both the councilmen and Greek fathers’ view of the atonement. Furthermore the clergy on their guard. Just reading the printed it was one endorsed by Luther himself, who claimed libretto might have been enough to antagonise them that ‘the of John is unique in loveliness and, before they had heard a note of his music. It was in truth, the principal Gospel, far superior to the other certainly an omen of further more heated and, for the three and much to be preferred.’ In it one finds a most part, undocumented disputes surrounding the ‘masterly account of how faith in Christ conquers sin, St John Passion over the next fifteen years. These death, and hell; and gives life, righteousness and caused him to revise it no less than four times, twice salvation’. bowing to clerical pressure to alter its tone and So why should this have been an especially doctrinal slant and with major readjustments to its controversial approach in Leipzig in 1724? From our music; once, in 1739, to abandon it altogether for a less theologically nuanced perspective, it seems further ten years, and then in one last hurrah to revive incomprehensible that the Leipzig clergy should have it a final time or two, boldly restored to its original had any qualms about the theological complexion of state. Perhaps this was the return he was seeking – Bach’s St John Passion. Yet take his decision to not just on the exceptional artistic effort expended follow his sublime closing chorus, ‘Ruht wohl, ihr at its inception, but on the vast amount of thought heiligen Gebeine’, with a final chorale. In performance he had invested in planning and shaping one of the it is obvious that the chorale serves to return us to the most intricate designs for any of his major works. here and now and to remove the last vestiges of grief One of Bach’s most fundamental (and probably and uncertainty. The first half of the chorale, focusing contentious) initial decisions was to give particular on the grave’s repose, is suitably understated. But at prominence to the figure of Christ, who dominates the mention of the ‘final day’, the resurrection of the the St John to a far greater degree than he does the body and the life of the world to come, Bach ratchets later St Matthew. In contrast to the image of Christ we up the tension. Spaces between the four voices begin gain from the synoptic , which give repeated to open up and he hits his most magisterial stride. emphasis to his humanity, he is portrayed in this Six of the next seven cadences are ‘perfect’ and in version as a majestic figure, as Christus victor, with the major, imbuing the music with colossal strength. foreknowledge and control of his destiny, utterly The single exception in the minor is reserved for the focussed on his task and seemingly unaffected by repeated plea ‘erhöre mich... erhöre mich’ (‘hear me... the vicissitudes of his trial. Having chosen to reflect hear me’). is still two days away, but the John’s emphasis on Christ’s authority, Bach goes affirmation here is positive and conclusive. And that on to explore its implications for humanity, following may have been Bach’s most grievous error as seen the theme of Jesus’ glorification through humiliation. through the eyes of the Leipzig clergy: to anticipate

11

I. Teil Part I Première Partie

1 1. Chorus 1. Chorus 1. Chœur Herr, unser Herrscher, dessen Ruhm O Lord, our ruler, whose glory Seigneur, notre Maître, dont la gloire in allen Landen herrlich ist! is magnified in all lands, est partout magnifique ! Zeig uns durch deine Passion, testify to us by thy Passion Montre-nous par ta passion, dass du, der wahre Gottessohn, that thou, the true Son of God, que toi, le vrai fils de Dieu, zu aller Zeit, hast at all times, en tous temps, auch in der größten Niedrigkeit, even in time of deepest lowliness, même dans le plus grand avilissement, verherrlicht worden bist! been glorified. tu as été glorifié.

2 2a. Recitativo 2a. 2a. Récitatif Evangelist Evangelist L’Évangéliste Jesus ging mit seinen Jüngern über Jesus went forth with his disciples over Jésus alla avec ses disciples de l’autre den Bach Kidron, da war ein Garten, the brook Cedron, where was a garden, côté du torrent de Cédron, où se trouvait darein ging Jesus und seine Jünger. into the which he entered, and his un jardin, dans lequel il entra, lui et ses Judas aber, der ihn verriet, wusste den disciples. And Judas also, which disciples. Mais Judas, qui le livrait, Ort auch, denn Jesus versammlete betrayed him, knew the place; for Jesus connaissait aussi ce lieu, parce que sich oft daselbst mit seinen Jüngern. ofttimes resorted thither with his Jésus et ses disciples s’y étaient Da nun Judas zu sich hatte genommen disciples. Judas then, having received a souvent réunis. Judas donc, ayant pris die Schar und der Hohenpriester und band of men and officers from the chief la cohorte, et des gardes qu’envoyèrent Pharisäer Diener, kommt er dahin mit and Pharisees, cometh thither les Grands Prêtres et les Pharisiens, vint Fackeln, Lampen und mit Waffen. with lanterns and torches and weapons. là avec des lanternes et des flambeaux Als nun Jesus wusste alles, was ihm Jesus therefore, knowing all things that et des armes. Jésus, sachant tout ce qui CD 1 begegnen sollte, ging er hinaus und should come upon him, went forth, and devait lui arriver, s’avança, et leur dit: sprach zu ihnen: said unto them, Part I Jesus Jesus Jésus Wen suchet ihr? Whom seek ye? Qui cherchez-vous ? Evangelist Evangelist L’Évangéliste Sie antworteten ihm: They answered him, Ils lui répondirent :

2b. Chorus 2b. Chorus 2b. Chœur Jesum von Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth. Jésus de Nazareth.

2c. Recitativo 2c. Recitative 2c. Récitatif Evangelist Evangelist L’Évangéliste Jesus spricht zu ihnen: Jesus saith unto them, Jésus leur dit : Jesus Jesus Jésus Ich bin’s. I am he. C’est moi.

32 Evangelist Evangelist L’Évangéliste Judas aber, der ihn verriet, stund auch And Judas also, who betrayed him, Et Judas, qui le livrait, était avec eux. bei ihnen. Als nun Jesus zu ihnen stood with them. As soon as he had Lorsque Jésus leur eut dit : c’est moi, sprach: Ich bin’s, wichen sie zurücke said unto them, I am he, they went ils reculèrent et tombèrent par terre. und fielen zu Boden. Da fragete er sie backward, and fell to the ground. Il leur demanda de nouveau : abermal: Then asked he them again, Jesus Jesus Jésus Wen suchet ihr? Whom seek ye? Qui cherchez-vous ? Evangelist Evangelist L’Évangéliste Sie aber sprachen: And they said, Et ils dirent :

2d. Chorus 2d. Chorus 2d. Chœur Jesum von Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth. Jésus de Nazareth.

2e. Recitativo 2e. Recitative 2e. Récitatif Evangelist Evangelist L’Évangéliste Jesus antwortete: Jesus answered, Jésus répondit : Jesus Jesus Jésus Ich hab’s euch gesagt, dass ich’s sei, I have told you that I am he: Je vous ai dit que c’est moi. Si donc suchet ihr denn mich, so lasset diese if therefore ye seek me, let these c’est moi que vous cherchez, gehen! go their way. laissez partir ceux-ci.

3 3. Chorale 3. Chorale 3. Choral O große Lieb, o Lieb ohn’ alle Maße, O great, boundless love, Ô l’amour immense, l’amour die dich gebracht auf diese that hath brought thee sans commune mesure, Marterstraße! to this path of martyrdom! qui t’a conduit sur ce chemin de martyre ! Ich lebte mit der Welt in Lust I lived among the worldly J’ai vécu dans les joies und Freuden, in contentment and pleasure et les plaisirs du monde, und du musst leiden. and thou must suffer! et tu dois souffrir !

4 4. Recitativo 4. Recitative 4. Récitatif Evangelist Evangelist L’Évangéliste Auf dass das Wort erfüllet würde, That the saying might be fulfilled, which Il dit cela, afin que s’accomplisse la welches er sagte: Ich habe der keine he spake, Of them which thou gavest parole qu’il avait dite : je n’ai perdu aucun verloren, die du mir gegeben hast. Da me have I lost none. Then Simon Peter de ceux que tu m’as donnés. Simon Pierre, hatte Simon Petrus ein Schwert und having a sword drew it, and smote the qui avait une épée, la tira, frappa le serviteur zog es aus und schlug nach des Hohen- high ’s servant, and cut off his right du Grand Prêtre, et lui coupa l’oreille droite. priesters Knecht und hieb ihm sein recht ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. Ce serviteur s’appelait Malchus. Ohr ab; und der Knecht hieß Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Jésus dit à Pierre : Da sprach Jesus zu Petro:

33 74 Der Kaiserdom zu Königslutter Braunschweiger Landes hervor- The comprehensive layout of gegangen ist. Ihre Ursprünge sculptures, especially the figures Die Stifskirche Petri und Pauli sind im Braunschweigischen of the hunting-frieze, the capitals in Königslutter, ,Kaiserdom‘ Klosterfonds zu finden, der im or the atlantes in the cloister are genannt, gilt als eines der Jahr 1569 von Herzog Julius zu an eloquent testimonial of artistic wichtigsten Zeugnisse romani- Braunschweig und Wolfenbüttel quality. The cloister is considered scher Baukunst in Norddeutsch- gegründet wurde und somit eine one of the most beautiful in land. Im Jahre 1135 legte der der wichtigen Konstanten der Germany and was renovated at sächsische Kaiser Lothar von Kulturregion Braunschweig ist. great expense between 1990 and Süpplingenburg den Grundstein, Das mehrere hundert Millionen 1993. The magnificent paintings erlebte die Fertigstellung des Euro umfassende Vermögen der on the interior of the cathedral Sakralbaues jedoch nicht mehr. Stiftung sichert die Erhaltung were created in the nineteenth 1137 wurde Lothar, Großvater des Kulturgutes, so des Kaiser- century by August von Essen - Heinrichs des Löwen, im damals doms zu Königslutter, der in wein, then principal of the Ger- noch unvollendeten Mittelschiff den vergangenen zehn Jahren manic Museum in Nuremberg. der Kirche beigesetzt. Das umfangreich restauriert wurde. Grabmal des Kaisers und seiner Die dafür benötigten 8,6 The cathedral is owned by the Gemahlin Richenza ist heute im Millionen Euro wurden von der Brunswick Cultural Heritage Langhaus zu besichtigen. Erst Stiftung Braunschweigischer Foundation, formed through the in den siebziger Jahren war Kulturbesitz zur Verfügung combination of several different es wieder entdeckt worden. gestellt; sie sind eine Investition foundations in the Brunswick in die nachhaltige Stärkung area. Its roots lie in the Brunswick Für die Konstruktion und braunschweigischer Identität in Monastery stock, founded in Gestaltung der Kirche hatte Zeiten schwindender finanzieller 1569 by Duke Julius of Brunswick Lothar III. vermutlich den Ressourcen. and Wolfenbüttel, thereby giving Baumeister Nicolaus aus dem an important absolute term to östlichen Oberitalien gewonnen. The Collegiate Church of Saint the cultural region of Brunswick. Die reichhaltige Formensprache, Peter and Paul in Königslutter, The overall assets of some speziell die Figuren des Jagd - also known as the Kaiserdom hundred million euros, belonging frieses, der Kapitelle oder der (Emperor-Cathedral), is one of to the Found ation, ensure the Atlanten im Kreuzgang sind the most important examples conservation and preservation beredtes Zeugnis der künstleri- of romanesque architecture in of cultural assets like the Kaiser- schen Qualität. Der Kreuzgang Northern Germany. The found - dom. The total amount of 8.6m gilt als einer der schönsten in ation stone was laid in 1135 by euros, necessary for the Deutschland und wurde von the Saxon Emperor Lothar of comprehensive restoration of the 1990 bis 1993 mit erheblichem Süpplingenburg, who died in cathedral over the past ten years, Aufwand restauriert. Die präch- 1137 before the church was funded by Brunswick Cultural tige Ausmalung des Dominneren completed and was buried in the Heritage Foundation, is at the aus dem 19. Jahr hundert wird nave. The tombs of the Emperor same time an investment for dem Direktor des Germanischen and of his wife Richenza were a lasting rein forcement of Museums in Nürnberg, August rediscovered in the 1970s and ‘Brunswick Identity’ in times of von Essenwein, zugeschrieben. may be seen today. diminishing financial resources.

Der ,Kaiserdom‘ befindet sich im For the construction and con- Eigentum der Stiftung Brauns - figuration of the church Lothar III chweigischer Kulturbesitz, die presumably enlisted the famous aus der Zusammenlegung master-builder Nicolaus from mehrerer anderer Stiftungen des the eastern part of Upper Italy.

75 Soli Deo Gloria und den English Baroque We look forward to many future Feste Alte Musik Soloists und danken ihm für die projects with Sir John Eliot im Braunschweiger Land bisherigen Höhepunkte mit der Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir Musik Johann Sebastian Bachs and the English Baroque Soloists Die Aufführung der Johannes- in wunderschönen Kirchen in and we wish to express our passion im Jahr 2003 im unserem Braunschweiger Land. gratitude to Sir John Eliot Kaiserdom zu Königslutter war Gardiner for his marvellous der Beginn der erfolgreichen This performance of the St John performances to date of Bach’s Zusammenarbeit zwischen Sir Passion in the Kaiserdom in music in the beautiful churches John Eliot Gardiner und Günther Königslutter in 2003 launched of the Brunswick region. Graf von der Schulenburg; what remains a highly successful seitdem konnten elf Bach- co-operation between Sir John Konzertprojekte realisiert Eliot Gardiner and Günther Graf werden. 2004 folgte die h-moll- von der Schulenburg, producing Messe und 2005 die Matthäus- eleven Bach concert projects to passion am gleichen Ort. Im date. The St John Passion was Dezember 2005 gab es zwei followed by the B minor Mass in Konzerte mit Kantaten und dem 2004 and the St Matthew Passion im Konzerthaus Berlin in 2005, both also in Königslutter, und im Dom zu Braunschweig. and then two concerts of Bach cantatas and the Bach Magnificat 2006 gründeten wir das Festival in December 2005 held in the Soli Deo Gloria, das in Braun - Konzerthaus Berlin and schweig mit den Advents- Brunswick Cathedral. kantaten triumphal eröffnet wurde. Im Jahr 2007 folgte ein The Soli Deo Gloria Festival Konzert mit dem Programm was founded in 2006 and had ,Bach-Familie‘ sowie eine an outstanding opening with a Aufführung von Bach-Kantaten concert of Advent cantatas in zu St. Michael. Karfreitag 2008, Brunswick. A concert of music am 21. März, Johann Sebastian by the Bach family followed in Bachs Geburtstag, wurde in 2007, and another with cantatas der Kirche St. Trinitatis in for the Feast of St Michael and Wolfenbüttel noch einmal die All Angels. On Good Friday, Johannespassion aufgeführt. 21 March 2008, Bach’s birthday, the St John Passion received Nach umfangreicher Renovie - another performance in the rung ist am 7. Mai 2010 der church of St Trinitatis in Kaiserdom zu Königslutter mit Wolfenbüttel. der h-moll-Messe wiedereröffnet worden. Am 6. Dezember 2010 After substantial restoration gaben wir in der Berliner the Kaiserdom reopened with Philharmonie mit den Advents- a second celebration of the kantaten unser elftes und bislang B minor Mass on 7 May 2010. letztes gemeinsames Konzert. On 6 December our eleventh Wir hoffen auf viele weitere and most recent joint concert, of Projekte mit Sir John Eliot Advent cantatas, was performed Gardiner, dem Monteverdi Choir in the Berliner Philharmonie.

76 NDR Kultur is an inspiring and With thanks to Graf and Gräfin enjoyable radio station with an von der Schulenburg appealing range of classical music, literature and compre- Live broadcast by NDR Kultur hensive reporting on all things from the Kaiserdom, Königslutter, cultural. Whether it’s theatre, 22 March 2003 opera, cinema, new books or CDs, NDR Kultur keeps you Producer: Frank Lipp up to date with all major cultural Recording engineer: events, as well as offering Helge Martensen its own celebrated concerts, Executive producer: readings and radio dramas. Isabella de Sabata Edition by Bärenreiter Listen to NDR Kultur from Cover: Julian Anderson anywhere in the world using the Design: Untitled live stream at ndr.de/ndrkultur German translation: or via the NDR app, available Gudrun Meier as a free download from the French translation: App Store. Join us on Facebook Michel Roubinet at facebook.com/ndrkultur Translations of non-biblical to start connecting with us. texts after Friedel Becker, 1963, and François Séguret reproduced by kind permission of EMI Records Ltd Booklet photos: Andreas Greiner-Napp

P 2011 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Monteverdi Productions Ltd C 2011 Monteverdi Productions Ltd Level 9 25 Cabot Square Canary Wharf London E14 4QA

Soli Deo Gloria 77