On Wednesday, a few days before Orthodox Easter the St John Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach will sound at Sofia’s Bulgaria Hall. The rendition is that of the Mixed Choir and the Symphonic Orchestra of the BNR under the baton of Dragomir Yosifov. This is the first time that the radio formations include this work in their repertoire.

The initial rendition of St John Passion was on 7 April 1724, Good Friday, at the St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig. More details from Dragomir Yosifov:

“We rarely hear St John Passion in Bulgaria. We could say the same for St. Matthew till recently. However, thanks to the Bach Society, conductor Yosif Gerdzhikov and the musicians, gathering exclusively for the occasion over the past years we have the chance to listen to that great piece on some of the Maundy week’s days. St John Passion sounded in one of the concerts, but just once.”

The passion sounded for the first time in Bulgaria back in the 1970s in the town of Yambol, thanks to a visiting German choir and the local chamber orchestra. I do prefer St. John Passion due to the thick ruthlessness of the events that are getting more cruel and fearful. Then it is all solved with that long sigh – the second alt aria “It’s Over!” /”Es ist vollbracht!” This was the first passion in Bach’s biography with many editions afterwards – the last was in the composer’s last year of life. I see the rendition of this passion as something more like personal than professional. No matter the faith or religion, what’s universal in that music is really strong. The idea of the passion is to awake compassion in those listening to it. They ought to live through the sufferings of Christ, while enjoying the beautiful music…”

Bach has many church service works. More from Mr. Yosifov:

“He used to belong to the protestant denomination. We all know that it was quite extravagant to live outside the church back then. People were born, lived and died with God. Bach composed music, following the protestant tradition, but he also had several Latin Catholic works. I am convinced that music like St John Passion simply ceases any controversies. Only the initial three chords with the intro lines: “God! God! God!” go from an appeal to uncertainty and then into a doubt. This is where questions end and the genius begins – far and beyond the score”.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev