EMMA SCHAIBLE
Special to The Leader
On March 9, the School of Music at Fredonia will work with locally talented music ensembles to showcase the “St. Matthew Passion.” Dr. Gerald Gray, who is the director of choral activities, will be conducting.
“St. Matthew Passion” is an emotionally involved performance that was composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in the 1700s.
There are critical roles that are integrated throughout the “St. Matthew Passion.” The Evangelist serves as the narrator of the piece. Other solo parts include the role of Jesus, the High Priest, Pilate and the disciples Peter and Judas. The choirs and orchestras add to the dramatic aspect and music appeal to the Passion. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra will join the Fredonia Masterworks Chorus, Chancel Choir of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and Chautauqua Youth Chorus in the “St. Matthew Passion.”
The purpose of the production of the “St. Matthew Passion” was to unveil the story of the events leading up to the crucifixion and then the burial of Jesus Christ as told by the gospel of Matthew.
The story is told through a series of intense emotionally-involved movements. Bach is known for his dramatic works like “St. Matthew Passion,” and “St. John Passion,” which was performed at Fredonia last Spring.
Erik Rasmussen, a junior vocal performance major, will be singing in the Fredonia Masterworks Choir at the event. Rasmussen said rehearsing the piece has been a “learning experience.”
“[Due to] the length and importance of this work, we have been working on this since the beginning of last semester,” said Rasmussen. “We really want to perform this piece with the integrity it deserves.”
Rasmussen serves as the online publicist manager for the “St. Matthew Passion.” He created a Facebook event and — with the help of Nick Gunner, the new media manager for Fredonia — has sponsored advertising for the event being shown on users newsfeeds.
On March 2, Dr. Melvin Unger, director of the School of Music, will be giving a one-hour lecture about the “St. Matthew Passion” in the Multipurpose Room of the Williams Center at noon. Unger said that he hopes the talk will “give some background as far as the history is concerned … and also how [‘St. Matthew Passion’] came to be regarded as a great work outside of its original historical context.” Different sound recordings, as well as pictures, will be presented throughout the lecture.
Unger reassures this masterpiece is welcoming of all audiences.
“It’s so profound on several levels,” said he said “On a musical level — there are people attracted to just the way Bach uses the musical elements, and so it is like listening to an opera on a mythological plot. On the other hand it is so expressive. Just to give one example, when Peter denies Jesus and then weeps bitterly it really is a statement of universal remorse. So we can all identify to times we were sorry.”
With the help of projected translations and supertitles, Unger hopes “people will be able to see, hear and understand the connections between what is actually happening and that movement.”
Aimee Pelosi, a senior music education major, said what she is looking forward to most about the performance is “seeing the faculty and the students get together to perform … a great piece of work.”
“St. Matthew Passion” will be performed on March 9 at 7 p.m. in King Concert Hall.