March was a busy month and first up was Bach’s St Matthew Passion in Gloucester Cathedral, a success to our St John Passion of 2020.
I feel I know this work very well because I’ve listened to it countless times, but I haven’t performed it often and this was only the second time I’d done it in German. And there are an awful lot of words, especially when you think of all the chorale verses. I can’t say I remembered them all that well from when I sang it eight years ago. Nor do they flow all that easily; my German is not good enough for instant comprehension and sometimes there just plain isn’t enough time for all the required sounds to be fitted in. Yes, zerbrichst, I’m looking at you, and I came off worst in the encounter with you this time.
This is the longest work in the standard choral repertoire, and the rehearsal pattern on the day had to be unusual too. The movements involving chorus were compressed into a session in the middle of the day, and then there was a break for a late lunch at the Hungry Bean (in my case). The performance began at 4 and then had a Glyndebourne-style supper interval (probably without champagne bottles chilling in the Severn) after part 1, so it didn’t end too late.
I’m happy to say that there were – for the first time in my performing history of this work – no major problems with illness, and we had the usual assembly of interesting baroque instruments courtesy of the Musical & Amicable Society (who sound a little like a financial organisation but weren’t).