King’s College has released a half-hour musical tour of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, often described as one of the greatest sacred choral works of all time.
Presented by the singer and King's alumnus James Gilchrist, it uses musical extracts from the performances in April 2019, for which Gilchrist was the Evangelist. The same concerts were recorded for the new album recording of the St Matthew Passion, which was released by King’s in March this year.
Beginning with an overview of the history and the musical structure of the work, Gilchrist walks the viewer through some of the key moments of the Passion story and the way Bach uses music to portray them. Excerpts of performances seen include Erbarme dich, sung by David Allsopp and Mache dich, mein Herze, rein, sung by William Gaunt. Also included in the tour are excerpts of choruses and chorales, featuring the Choir of King’s College Cambridge and the Academy of Ancient Music, as well as the Choir of King’s College School, Cambridge as the ripieno chorus.
The programme is available to watch below, and the full album can be streamed or bought here from the King's College record label: Bach, St Matthew Passion.
