Prelude Winter2010
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Prelude
Glorious Music in a Glorious Settingtm
a study guide by and for
the cathedral choral society
in preparation for its concerts
volume xvii number 3 winter 2010
Cathedral Choral Society
johann sebastian bach
J. Reilly Lewis, Music Director
2009-2010 Season St. Matthew Passion
concert iii
Washington national cathedral
Sunday, February 21, 2010, at 4:oo pm
J. S. BaCh
St. Matthew Passion
bwv 244
J. Reilly Lewis, conductor
Cathedral Choral Society
Chorus and Orchestra
Rufus Müller, Evangelist
Christòpheren Nomura, Christus
Gillian Keith, soprano
Clare Wilkinson, mezzo-soprano
alan Bennett, tenor
Craig Phillips, bass-baritone
Washington National Cathedral
Choristers
Michael McCarthy, director
and
Scott Dettra, continuo
j. reilly lewis
PRe-CONCeRt DiSCuSSiON
Michael McCarthy During one of his many visits and concert tours to Leipzig,
Germany, Music Director J. Reilly Lewis stands in front of
Director of Music
the iconic statue of Johann Sebastian Bach at the St. Thomas
Washington National Cathedral Church, where the first performance of the St. Matthew
Perry auditorium – 2:30 pm Passion was given on Good Friday, 1727.
Musical Settings of the Passion Story
by Leonard W. ellinwood
G
ospel narratives of the Passion of Our Lord Completely polyphonic settings, with the Christus and
were prescribed to be read during holy Week at a evangelist roles also in four-part ensemble, begin with a
very early stage in the development of the liturgy work published by George Rhau in 1538, which has long
of the Christian Church. By the fourth century, the Gospel but questionably been attributed to Jacob Obrecht.
according to St. Matthew, chapters 26 and 27, was desig- although frequently referred to as a “St. Matthew Pas-
nated as the Gospel at holy Communion on Palm Sunday; sion,” the work is actually a harmony of the four Gospels
St. Luke 22 and 23, on the following Wednesday. By the with many minor scenes omitted. he treats the traditional
ninth century, the sequence still observed in the episcopal plainsong as a cantus firmus for whichever part the action
Book of Common Prayer had become standardized of a given moment belongs. The support of the other voices
throughout Western Christendom. it was soon given to an orchestra, as the
soon became customary for the a cappella polyphonic style gave way to
Deacon of the Mass to use three the instrumental concertante style at
separate inflections to distinguish the the beginning of the seventeenth
narrative text of the evangelist from century throughout the musical world.
the lower pitched words of Christ and The new style, fostered by the popular-
the higher pitched utterances of the ity of italian opera, led to a gradual
people (turbae) and other minor abandonment of the literal Gospel
characters. With the development of narrative and the substitution of
liturgical dramas in the Middle ages, metrical librettos with heightened
these Passion Gospels were intoned by dramatic but less spiritual content.
three separate ministers — a deacon This perforce compelled the abandon-
(tenor) as evangelist, a priest (baritone) ment of the traditional Passion tones
as Christus, and a subdeacon (counter- for the evangelist and Christ.
tenor) sang the turba parts. each role heinrich Schütz introduced this
was intoned with a traditional tone new style into the German Passion
that was a modification of the regular music, with both heightened dramatic
Gospel tone with closing inflections “ the crucifixion,” woodcut, ca 1498, albrecht dürer effect and naïve realism. his setting in
adjusted to make a smooth transition a St. Matthew Passion (1661) of “herr,
from one vocal range to the other. The Saviour’s poignant bin ichs?” was followed closely by Bach. although Schütz
cry, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, departing from the recitation did not use arias or reflective chorales, he did pave the
tone, is one of the most expressive of all plainsong melodies. way for these with the use of a single chorale at the end of
By the mid-fifteenth century, we begin to find the turba his St. John Passion.
part set to three and four parts, polyphonically, for choir. The extreme of the italian style may be seen in the
One of the earliest, a setting of the St. Luke text, is a manu- setting by handel of a libretto by Barthold heinrich
script that has been preserved from the english Chapel Brockes in 1716, a work that develops two characters, “The
Royal at Windsor … . another setting, significant because Faithful” and “The Daughter of Zion” to voice the
of its undoubted influence on Johann Sebastian Bach, was emotion of the Church. Some of Brockes’s libretto was
made of the turba parts by Johann Walther about 1527, borrowed by Bach for his first attempt in this genre, the
using Martin Luther’s German translation of the St. St. John Passion, in 1724. in this work, which the Cathe-
Matthew account. Walther retained the plainsong formu- dral Choir of Men and Boys first sang in 1942, his deep
las for evangelist and Christ but wrote simple four-part piety led him to avoid the operatic and to give fuller
harmonizations in a faux-bourdon style, a century expression to the devotional elements, especially in the
advanced from the Windsor setting. Walther’s setting use of the familiar chorales whereby the Lutheran
became traditional for Palm Sunday in Lutheran churches, congregations could enter fully into the worship.
being used annually at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig until Three years later in 1727, Bach combined the best
two years prior to Bach’s appointment there. in 1607, elements of all the past traditions in his monumental St.
William Byrd published a three-part setting of the turba Matthew Passion. The Gospel narrative is given to a tenor
lines from the Good Friday Gospel (St. John), a text evangelist; the words of Christ are sung by a baritone
possibly the least dramatic of the three. accompanied solely by stringed instruments. Other
2
roles — Peter, Pilate, the high priest, serving maids — are
taken by separate voices. The turba is divided between
The Passion Chorale
two choirs, each accompanied by its own orchestra, the
first representing the disciples and other faithful believ-
ers, the second inquiring strangers — the vulgar throng.
at times, for added polyphonic excitement, both choirs
the origin of this chorale is the poem Salve mundi
take the latter role. his libretto follows the Gospel
salutare, which scholars date variously from the early
narrative closely, with added reflection on its implications
twelfth to thirteenth centuries. The poem passed from
set in metrical form. it was undoubtedly planned in detail
Latin, to German, to english and has been proclaimed by
by Bach himself, who also selected individual stanzas of
three faiths—Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed. Paul
familiar chorales for the congregation to sing. Other
Gerhardt (1607-1676) translated the last part of the poem
verses used in certain choruses and arias were written by
“salve caput cruentatum” into German, and in 1647,
Picander (Christian Friedrich henrici), Bach’s frequent
Johann Crüger (1598-1662) coupled the text to the music
librettist. These additions, especially the chorales, give an
of a seventeenth-century German love song written in
effect of a rapt congregation closely following the awful
1601 by hans Leo hassler (1564-1612). But it was Johann
drama and then turning towards one another to exclaim
Sebastian Bach who would immortalize the Crüger/
musically “Wie wunderbarlich” (Barënreiter No. 46) or
Gerhardt hymn by including it in both his St. Matthew
“Wer hat dich so geschlagen” (37).
and St. John Passion settings, several cantatas, and even
although unfamiliar with much of the plainsong lore
the opening and closing of his Christmas Oratorio.
of the Middle ages, Bach achieves comparable heights of
eloquence in lines such as those of Christ at the Last
Supper: “trinket alle daraus” (11) or his cry on the Cross:
“eli, eli, lama asabthani” (61a). Dramatic choral effects
occur in the choruses “Sind Blitze, sind Donner” (27b)
Maintaining that the Reformation heritage provides
and “Weisssage uns” (36d).
the underlying thematic and religious inspiration for
Specific word painting occurs in passages such as “und
Bach’s work, Yale historian Jaroslav Pelikan (1923-2006)
ging heraus und weinete bitterlich” after Peter’s denial
wrote in his study of Bach Among the Theologians that
(38c), the cry “Barrabam” (45a), the outline of the Cross in
Bach nevertheless “reached across and over the Reforma-
the vocal line of “Laß ihn kreuzigen” (45b and 50b), the
tion to the Middle ages” when he incorporated “O haupt
ripping of the veil of the temple “von obenan bis unter-
voll Blut und Wunden” into his Passion. “[it] was a
naus,” (63a) and above all, the climactic “Wahrlich, dieser
German version of a medieval hymn; Gerhardt’s poem
ist Gottes Sohn gewesen” (63b).
‘herzliebster Jesu’ was a versification of a medieval
a performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion must be
meditation; and the doctrine of redemption as satisfaction
approached with an entirely different spirit than one takes
of the justice of God through the death of the innocent
to most concerts, even those devoted to sacred music, for
Christ was a medieval doctrine.” Pelikan characterized
here is a work that is essentially a liturgy of devotion in
the St. Matthew Passion as “the supreme choral version of
which all who attend — singers, instrumentalists, and
Michelangelo’s Pietà.”
congregation — unite. in Bach’s time, the congregation
listened to a long sermon between the two parts of the work.
The Reverend Canon Dr. Leonard Webster Ellinwood
“O haupt voll Blut und Wunden” appears five times at
(1905-1994), noted hymnologist, Library of Congress musicolo-
gist, and ordained Episcopal deacon, was Cathedral Choral points of climax in the narrative: (1) after Christ’s words
Society Program Annotator for nearly forty years. He deliv- “ich werde den hirten schlagen,” foreshadowing his
ered this public lecture (Cathedral age, Summer 1949) at desertion by the disciples; (2) after Peter’s vow of fidelity;
Washington National Cathedral on April 5, 1949, five days (3) after the scene during the trial before Pilate, where
prior to the Society’s first performance of the St. Matthew Jesus is silent before his accusers; (4) after the scene where
Passion. Revised 2010, used by permission. Jesus is mocked by the soldiers and a crown of thorns
placed on his head; and (5) after the death of Jesus. These
five repetitions contribute to the musical and symbolic
unity of the overall work.
3
Program Notes
K
“ ommt, ihr töchter, rus St. Matthew Passion under
helft mir klagen.” consideration here, so the two
These opening words are separate and distinct. The
of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. smaller St. Matthew may very
Matthew Passion invite the well have been composed
congregation of the faithful to during Bach’s Weimar years,
view the innocent suffering 1708-1717, during which he
and cruelly painful death of performed a St. Mark Passion
the Lamb of God unspotted. by Reinhard Keiser (in 1714).
in his two-volume study of This fact is of great signifi-
Bach, albert Schweitzer writes cance, for it shows not only
eloquently of the unparalleled that Bach performed other
scope of Bach’s musical and composers’ music, but that he
dramatic vision: was engaged from the early
if we have once absorbed a years in the presentations of
Biblical verse in Bach’s setting musical Passions.
of it, we can never again
conceive it in any other The text
rhythm. it is impossible for Bach derived the text for the
anyone who knows the St. Passion from the Gospel of
Matthew Passion to run over St. Matthew with additional
The St. Matthew Passion was first performed in the material from Erbauliche
in his mind the sacramental
Thomaskirche in Leipzig on Good Friday 1727. Felix Gedancken auf den Grünen
words of the evening Com- Mendelssohn revived the work in an 1829 performance
munion without consciously Donnerstag und Charfreitag
at Berlin. Not until 1854 was there a complete perfor-
or unconsciously giving the über den leidenden Jesum, in
mance in England. The Boston Handel & Haydn
words the accents and Society first performed selected movements in 1871. In
einem Oratorio entworfen
duration that they have in 1878 Theodore Thomas conducted the first complete (“Devotional Thoughts on
Bach’s declamation … . The American performance in Cincinnati. Maundy Thursday and Good
music breathes peace and Friday”), written by Bach’s
majesty … . No analysis could frequent librettist, Leipzig poet
do justice to the beauty and the consummate expres- Christian Friedrich henrici (1700-1764), who wrote under
siveness of the recitatives of Christ and the evangelist the pseudonym Picander. The work received its first per-
in the narrative of the Passion. formance on april 11, 1727, at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig.
Bach revised the work for subsequent performances during
Bach’s Passions his lifetime. in 1736 he replaced the chorale concluding Part
Bach’s obituary credits the composer with “five Passions, i with the setting of “O Mensch, bewein,” originally written
of which one is for double chorus.” Of these works, three in 1725 as an introduction to the St. John Passion.
can be readily identified as St. John (1724), St. Matthew
(1727), and St. Mark (1731). The original manuscript sources instrumentation
of the St. Mark Passion were destroyed during World War Bach assembled unusually large musical forces for the
ii. Portions of the work can be reconstructed, however, St. Matthew Passion. The work is scored for double choir
because they parody cantatas 54 and 198. [On March 12, and double orchestra of strings, flute, oboe, oboe d’amore,
2010, the Cathedral’s concert ensemble, Cathedra, will oboe da caccia, viola da gamba, and continuo. in addition
perform the u.S. premiere of Malcom Bruno’s recon- to the evangelist, Jesus, and the lesser characters, the
structed edition of the St. Mark Passion.] a St. Luke work calls for a double quartet of aria soloists.
Passion, formerly ascribed to Bach, has been proven
spurious. a fifth work is mentioned in the listing of the Dramatic Levels within the Passion
estate left by Bach’s son, Carl Philipp emanuel, a single- Bach biographer Malcolm Boyd observed that the musical
chorus “passion according to St. Matthew, incomplete.” drama of the St. Matthew Passion unfolds on four
This same listing also mentions the familiar double-cho- interlocking levels: the narrative (or dramatic), the lyrical,
4
the devotional, and the monumental. The narrative level excitement for jagged melodic edges, plains and tranquil-
includes the recitatives of the evangelist, Jesus, and the ity for horizontal lines. This method can be found in
lesser characters, and the brief turba choruses. Bach countless vocal and programmatic Baroque works (e.g.,
presents the narrative text of St. Matthew’s Gospel vividly “every Valley” from handel’s Messiah). in the St. Mat-
and forcefully. The arias introduce the second level of the thew Passion, Bach applies these precepts in an instinctive
drama, the lyrical or contemplative response. These arias way when he depicts falling tears with pointed notes (6),
demonstrate remarkable variety, both in instrumentation the dispersion of the sheep of the flock with contrary
(only two arias in the entire work have the same instru- movements of the top and bottom orchestral parts (14),
mentation) and in emotional range, from the heartbroken Christ’s fall with cascading violin phrases (22), and the
grieving of “Können tränen meiner Wangen” (Bärenre- tearing of the temple’s curtain and the earthquake with
iter No. 52) to the unconstrained submission of “ich will descending and trembling lines (63a). The rising and
dir mein herze schenken” (13), and from the stern falling themes of (13) depict both the offering upward of
resoluteness of “Gebt mir meinen Jesum wieder” (42) the believer’s heart and the descent of Christ to accept, a
to the movingly personal piety of “Mache dich, mein two-fold combination of symbolic themes. in (35), the
herze, rein” (65). contrast of tranquil streams of eighth notes and sharp
The Lutheran chorales, familiar tunes in new harmo- blows of dotted sixteenth notes vividly illustrates the
nizations, introduce the third dramatic level, the devo- patience of the believer stung by false accusations; the
tional or communal. although the congregation may or same motif is used to represent flagellation in (51). Finally,
may not have actually joined in singing them, the cho- references to the crucifixion are almost always accompa-
rales would have drawn the congregation into the Passion nied by a sequence of notes in the shape of a cross, e.g.,
as a liturgical experience. Finally, the massive choruses the fugue theme on “Laß ihn kreuzigen” (45b) and the
framing the St. Matthew Passion convey the work’s continuo line under the word “kreuzigen” (55).
monumental dramatic aspect. The opening movement,
a dialogue between two choruses with the chorale “O Aural
Lamm Gottes, unschuldig” (the German agnus Dei) The second category of symbolism reaches beyond simple
superimposed, invokes weeping, by which all generations visual illustration of the text to provide a glimpse into
may share in the sorrow and lamentation of the Passion. Bach’s beliefs. Following a Baroque passion tradition,
The closing chorus, a dolorous sarabande that also invites Bach draws a musical halo around Christ’s head through-
tears, presents a wish of peaceful rest for the slain Christ. out the work. The strings accompany his words with only
one exception: in (61a), when Jesus cries to God, his
tonal Allegory apparent abandonment makes Jesus a man like all others,
Bach’s “great Passion,” as it was known inside his house- and this is reflected musically in the loss of the halo.
hold, might still astound churchgoers with its dramatic earlier in the narrative (9d and 9e), after Jesus announces
impact. Yet, in addition to the direct and stirring response that one of his disciples will betray him, they ask in eleven
that it induces, the work contains numerous hidden choral questions, “herr, bin ichs?” (Lord, is it i?). Judas
messages that may escape the modern listener. For alone remains silent.
example, the instrumental citation of Lutheran hymns Later, when the disciples assure Jesus that they would
would send an unspoken yet unequivocal message to rather die for him than deny him, their words are set into
Bach’s congregation. Parishioners would recognize the two chorales (15 and 17) that are musically identical,
hymn tune and the text traditionally associated with it, except that the second one is written a half-step lower
adding a specific meaning to the musical context in which than the first; the disciples’ confidence has been shaken
it was used. in the St. Matthew Passion, Bach uses three by Christ’s prophecy of Peter’s denial. Conversely, when
categories of distinct and yet sometimes overlapping the multitudes call for Jesus’ death on the cross (45b and
symbols, increasingly less evident to the ear and more 50b), the second clamor is a whole step higher than the
apparent to the eye. first, as the crowd becomes more insistent. Through the
use of a canon, Bach describes the deceitful behavior of
Visual the two false witnesses (33); one false witness slavishly
Sometimes called “pictorialism,” the first (and simplest) repeats the other’s every word. When Peter denies he
type of symbolism provides a graphical representation of knows Jesus (38a), his explanation does not convince his
the text through the physical position and movements of accusers. his words “ich kenne des Menschen nicht” fall on
the notes on the written score. Mention of the sky calls for the silence of the continuo instruments. and when Judas
high notes, the earth for a low register, mountains and Continued on next page
5
Program Notes continued
hangs himself as Jesus is about to be sentenced to death a continuo line exactly 116 notes long. Without any
(41c), Bach does not deem this suicide worthy of any apparent musical reason, Bach inserts in the otherwise
musical attention; the traitor, even repentant, receives no unbroken continuo line a silence after the 13th note. Psalm
mercy from the composer. at the end of 58d, on the words 116, verse 13, reads: “i will take the cup of salvation, and
“ich bin Gottes Sohn,” Bach resolvedly affirms the deity of call upon the name of the Lord.” in engaging in these
Christ via one of the most forceful musical means, that of intellectual games, Bach follows a well-established tradi-
all choral and orchestral parts uniting in a vehement tion in the church. Bach’s interest fits perfectly within the
unison utterance. philosophical precepts of his time. in 1712, the philosopher
Leibniz had defined music as “a secret exercise in arithme-
numerical tic of the soul, unaware of its act of counting.”
The third use of symbolism reveals Bach’s fascination for
cryptography and mathematical games and his thorough
knowledge of the Scriptures. in No. 11, where Jesus shares Program Notes by Steven Kerchoff, Kristen Baker Loden, and
Thierry van Bastelaer. © Washington Bach Consort, 1996.
the cup of wine with his disciples, his voice is supported by
Reilly Lewis’s First St. Matthew Performance
On March 23, 1980, at Washington National Cathedral, J. Reilly
Lewis conducted his fledgling Washington Bach Consort in its
inaugural performance of the St. Matthew Passion, to which
he had invited the ambassador of West Germany and the
representative of East Germany. Before the concert, Maestro
Lewis introduced the diplomats to each other for the first time,
saying, “Mit der Musik Bachs gibt es keine Grenzen.” (There
can be no boundaries when in the presence of Bach’s music.)
is
ly lew
j. r eil
6
Cathedral Performances
Washington One week after Dr.
King’s final Sunday
Premiere sermon, the Cathedral
The Cathedral Choral Choral Society gave the
Society presented the first first of two previously
complete Washington scheduled performances
performance of the St. of Bach’s St. Matthew
Matthew Passion on Palm Passion, now a tribute to
Sunday, april 10, 1949, led the slain civil rights
by founder Paul Calla- leader. to comply with
way, with Ralph Kirkpat- the 4 pm curfew, recalled
rick, harpsichord, John harpsichordist albert
Martin, principal cellist Fuller, Paul Callaway
of the National Sympho- made cuts as he went,
ccs archives
ny Orchestra, continuo, calling out sotto voce the
Metropolitan Opera numbers of the next
tenor John Garris, the movement from the
evangelist, and future podium, sometimes
Washington Post music followed by a colorful
critic Paul Chandler epithet. in the audience,
hume as baritone soloist. the wife of american
For the Society’s second history professor and
performance on Palm singer Charles McLaugh-
Sunday 1952, Ralph lin (1929-2005) sang the
Kirkpatrick was joined at chorales along with the
the harpsichord by his gentleman standing next
student, albert Fuller, to her. Sen. eugene
who returned for Calla-
wnc archives
ccs archives
McCarthy, a fine singer
way-led performances in who lived on Woodley
1957 and 1961. When Road across from the
Fuller played for the 1968 Top photo: The Cathedral Choral Society sings the first complete Cathedral, had won the
performance, he was then Washington performance of the St. Matthew Passion on Palm Wisconsin Democratic
the teacher of a young Sunday, April 10, 1949. Below left: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., presidential primary just
Juilliard student named preaches from the Canterbury pulpit on Sunday, March 31, 1968. days before.
Reilly Lewis. Below right: Dr. Lewis reads a tribute to Coretta Scott King after Three decades would
the Society’s 1998 performance, marking the thirtieth anniversary of pass before the Cathedral
The Martin Luther her husband’s assassination.
Choral Society’s next
King Performances performance of the St.
On the last Sunday of his life, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Matthew Passion. its 1998 performance — the first in
King, Jr., preached to the largest congregation ever to German — commemorated that unforgettable 1968
assemble within Washington National Cathedral up to performance. By then, Dr. J. Reilly Lewis, that young
that time. in anticipation of the Poor People’s Campaign Juilliard student, had succeeded Dr. Paul Callaway as
in Washington planned for april 1968, Cathedral Dean music director and was an internationally recognized
Francis B. Sayre, Jr., invited Dr. King to occupy the Bach scholar as founder of the Washington Bach Consort.
Canterbury pulpit on March 31, “to clarify his intentions
and plans for the coming campaign.”
Six days later, President Lyndon B. Johnson led
thousands at this Cathedral in mourning the death of the
Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Less than a week before, he
had been hailed as “the conscience of our nation.”
7
Washington National Cathedral
2010 lenten concerts
sunday, february 21 - 4:00 pm
Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Matthew Passion
Cathedral Choral Society Chorus and Orchestra, J. Reilly Lewis, conductor
Profoundly religious yet intimate in its expression of human feeling, the
St. Matthew Passion tells of the days leading to the Crucifixion as the music
arcs from the exultant to the tragic, sweeping the listener into the drama.
Pre-concert Discussion at 2:30 PM (Perry Auditorium)
Michael Mccarthy, cathedral Director of Music
friday, february 26 - 7:30 pm
Stabat Mater
Prelude
Founded 1993
Cathedra [the Cathedral’s concert ensemble], Michael McCarthy, director
J. Reilly Lewis
This program celebrates the Baroque with two contrasting settings of the Stabat
Mater. Pergolesi’s famous setting for two solo voices and Baroque ensemble is Music Director
preceded by J.S. Bach’s motet Komm, Jesu, Komm! a second Bach motet, Jesu, Scott Dettra
meine Freude, is followed by the sumptuous twelve-part setting of the Stabat
Keyboard Artist and
Mater text by alessandro Scarlatti.
Assistant Conductor
friday, march 5 - 7:30 pm
todd Fickley
requiem
Chorus Master
Cathedra, Michael McCarthy, director
Featured are two very different settings of the Requiem, the first by the polyphonic s
master tomás Luis de Victoria and the second by the twentieth-century composer Margaret Shannon
herbert howells. also on the program: Take Him, Earth, For Cherishing, the
Editor
motet composed by howells in memory of President John F. Kennedy, Kenneth
Leighton’s Crucifixus Pro Nobis, and antonio Caldara’s sixteen-part setting of the Susan elliott
Crucifixus text. Graphic Design
friday, march 12 - 7:30 pm s
Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Mark Passion Cathedral Choral Society
Cathedra, Michael McCarthy, director
Washington National Cathedral
Only a broad outline of Bach’s intention for his St. Mark Passion has survived.
Massachusetts & Wisconsin
however, several musicologists have produced reconstructions of this work.
Cathedra performs the u.S. premiere of the most recent edition of the St. Mark Avenues, N.W.
Passion as reconstructed by Malcolm Bruno. Washington, D.C. 20016-5098
friday, march 19 - 7:30 pm s
Liturgical Music of twentieth-century France Cathedral Choral Society
Cathedra, Michael McCarthy, director www.cathedralchoralsociety.org
twentieth-century France produced as rich a seam of liturgical music as has been
Washington National Cathedral
seen in the history of western music. arguably two of its giants were Francis
Poulenc and Maurice Duruflé. This program features Poulenc’s Quatre motets www.nationalcathedral.org
pour un temps de pénitence and his unaccompanied Mass. The concert concludes s
with Duruflé’s sublime Requiem.
Prelude is a study guide by and for the
palm sunday, march 28 - 4:00 pm Cathedral Choral Society
Johann Sebastian Bach: St. John Passion in preparation for its concerts,
The Cathedral Choirs and Orchestra, Michael McCarthy, conductor published quarterly during
This masterwork tells the story of Christ’s betrayal, death, and burial, vividly and the concert season.
affectingly pointing to the deepest meaning of the Passion.
Pre-concert Discussion at 2:30 pm (Perry Auditorium) © 2010 Margaret Shannon
Dr. J. reilly Lewis, Music Director, cathedral choral Society
