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© Michael Wharley
Markus Passion: The Sebastians and Chatham Baroque
New York, Corpus Christi Church
About the Event
Experience classical music like never before in this astonishing performance of masterworks by Johann Sebastian Bach at New York's remarkable Corpus Christi Church.
J. S. Bach wrote Passion settings for the gospels of Mark as well as for Matthew and John – two of the greatest artistic works of all time. Shortly after Bach’s death in 1750, his Markus Passion manuscript was hand‐delivered by his son C.P.E. to his publisher, Johann Breitkopf, but was subsequently lost.
The new Markus edition by musicologist Malcolm Bruno is an ingenious reconstruction drawing on material from other works by Bach. Featuring four singers, 14 instrumentalists and a unique role for an actor as Evangelist.
This first‐ever staged version tours to the UK and the west coast, but not before giving the shared world premiere in Pittsburgh (April 11), then on Palm Sunday at MB1800 in a milestone for early music. Featuring the iconic actor Joseph Marcell (Royal Shakespeare Company, The Fresh Prince of Bel‐Air).
Program
- Johann Sebastian Bach – St. Mark Passion, BWV 247
Cast / Production
Joseph Marcell, actor
Pascale Beaudin, soprano
Cody Bowers, countertenor
James Reese, tenor
Jonathan Woody, bass
Jeffrey Grossman Director & Harpsichord
Adapted and Directed by Bill Barclay
Edited by Malcolm Bruno
Produced by Concert Theatre Works
Commissioned by
Oregon Bach Festival
The Sebastians with Chatham Baroque
Emi Ferguson, flute
Mei Yoshimura Stone, flute
Priscilla Herreid, oboe d’amore
Caroline Giassi, oboe d’amore
Daniel Lee, violin
Andrew Fouts (Chatham Baroque), violin
Shelby Yamin, viola
Patricia Halverson (Chatham Baroque), viola da gamba
Caroline Nicolas, viola da gamba
Ezra Seltzer, violoncello
Nathaniel Chase, contrabass
Scott Pauley (Chatham Baroque), theorbo
Kevin Payne, theorbo
Jeffrey Grossman, organ, harpsichord, music director
Artists
| Ensemble: | The Sebastians |
|---|---|
| Ensemble: | Chatham Baroque |
Johann Sebastian Bach
The name Bach and the word musician had long been synonyms in Germany as the world saw 56 musicians from this kin. But it was Johann Sebastian Bach, a genius composer and virtuoso organ player, who shed lustre on his family name. He was born on th 31st of March 1685 in Eisenach, a small town in Thuringia. At the age of 10 he became an orphan and was brought up by his elder brother Johann Christoph, who was an organist in a neighbouring town. His brother was the one to teach music to the young Johann Sebastian. Later he moved to Luneburg where he attended a church school and mastered the techniques of playing violin, viola, piano and organ by the age of 17. Besides that, Bach was a choir singer and later after his voice broke he became a chanter’s assistant. In 1703 Bach was hired as a court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst III. He earned such a good reputation there that he was later invited to Arnstadt to be an organist at the New Church, where he wrote his best organ works. In 1723 he moved to Leipzig to be a chantor at St. Thomas Church where he stayed until his death of a stroke in 1750. In the year of his death he had undergone unsuccessful eye surgery which lead him to lose his eyesight. During that strenuous time his second wife Anna Magdalena helped him to write his last musical pieces. Bach’s artistic legacy is vast. He created compositions in all genres of the time: oratorias, cantatas, masses, motets, music for organ, piano and violin.
Address
Corpus Christi Church, 529 West 121st Street, New York, USA — Google Maps
