Mendelssohn dusts off an old classic

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1829, a 20-year-old German composer named Felix Mendelssohn conducted the first public performance of Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” in almost a hundred years. Earlier, Mendelssohn had written to friend:

“You may know from the papers that I intend to perform the Passion by Sebastian Bach, a very beautiful and worthy piece of church music from the last century, on March 11th at the Berlin Academy of Music. I ask if it would be possible for you to grant us the pleasure of your company that evening ... to honor an old master and dignify our celebration by your presence.”

Mendelssohn’s 1829 performance sparked a revival of interest in Bach’s music, generally considered too unmelodic, mathematical, dry and incomprehensible for the audiences in Mendelssohn’s day. It really took some doing for Mendelssohn to pry the score of Bach’s Passion from the Berlin musician who owned it, and who said it was a total a waste of time to perform such an outmoded, unfashionable piece of music.

But, in fact, the performance was so well received that Bach’s Passion was presented again ten days later, to even greater acclaim, on March 21st the anniversary of Bach’s birth.

Music Played in Today's Program

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) St. Matthew Passion Netherlands Bach Society; Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra; Ton Koopman, cond.

On This Day

Births

• 1876 - American composer Carl Ruggles, in Marion, Mass.;

• 1897 - American composer Henry Cowell, in Menlo Park, Calif.;

Premieres

• 1791 - Haydn: Symphony No. 92, conducted by the composer, at the first of his London concerts; Haydn had composed this symphony at the request of a French count in 1788-89, and presumably its first performance took place in Paris around that time; The symphony's nickname, "Oxford," derives from a July 7, 1791, performance conducted by Haydn at the Sheldonian Theater at Oxford University, where Haydn was awarded an honorary degree;

• 1830 - Bellini: opera "I Capuleti e I Montecchi" (The Capulets and Montagues), in Venice at the Teatro la Fenice;

• 1851 - Verdi: opera "Rigoletto," in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice;

• 1867 - Verdi: opera "Don Carlos" (1st French-language version in 5 acts) at the Paris Opéra;

• 1886 - Tchaikovsky: "Manfred" Symphony (after Byron), in Moscow (Gregorian date: Mar. 23);

• 1888 - Dvorak: Symphony No. 2 in Bb, in Prague; This symphony was composed in 1865;

• 1915 - Ravel: ballet "Ma Mère l'Oye" (Mother Goose), at the Paris Opéra; This orchestral score is based on an earlier Ravel work of the same name for two pianos;

• 1917 - Respighi: tone-poem "The Fountains of Rome," in Rome;

• 1929 - Colin McPhee: Concerto for Piano with Wind Octet, in Boston;

• 1999 - Corigliano: "A Dylan Thomas Trilogy," at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with soloists and the National Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting;

Others

• 1829 - Mendelssohn conducts a revival performance of J.S. Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" in Berlin.