A Lenten Musical Journey, Day 45

Bach’s Matthäus-Passion has served as the soundtrack to so many of my Good Fridays, I’ve lost count. It’s particularly effective (for me, at least) when paired with the libretto (pdf version here), because Bach highlights and underscores the text in all sorts of wonderful (and deeply moving) musical ways.

I was pleased to find this version (led by Otto Klemperer) in playlist form on YouTube because it’s a nicely-digestible, highly-indexed version that features the soloists from my Favorite Matthäus Ever: Herbert Von Karajan’s. (Peter Schreier’s Evangelist and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s Christ are worthy of especial mention.)

For those with a bit of extra time on their hands — above and beyond the 3+hour playing time — there are a number of excellent commentaries/analyses out there (such as here and here.)

Attribution(s): “BWV 244 Nr. 71” by Bach is licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; “Bells” via Shutterstock.