Performed by THE SHEFFIELD MUSICAL
UNION
Relayed from The City Hall, Sheffield
Principals :
DOROTHY SILK (soprano)
ASTRA DESMOND (contralto)
ERIC GREENE (tenor)
ROY HENDERSON (bass)
BOOTH UNWIN (bass)
THE SHEFFIELD MUSICAL
UNION CHORUS AND
ORCHESTRA
(Leader, JOHN Lowndes )
Conducted by Sir HENRY WOOD
IT HAD BEEN the custom for many years, beginning long before the Reformation, to sing the story of the Passion in Holy Week at one or other of the Leipzig churches, generally at either St. Thomas's or St. Nicholas's, which were the two principal churches in the city. When Bach took up his appointment in 1723 he was naturally expected to furnish a new musical setting of the Passion, and in later years to furnish yet others, in order not too often to repeat what had already been heard. Following this routine, therefore, the St. Matthew Passion was prepared for the Good Friday performance in 1729, and was first heard on that day in the Thomaskirche, Bach himself directing at the cembalo.