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Bach's "Unfinished": Presentation of a special premiere recording

A very special event awaits visitors on Wednesday, 8 May, in the "Spiegelsaal" of the Gotha Research Library at the University of Erfurt: On this evening, Aleksandra and Alexander Grychtolik will present the CD recorded in 2023 with the top Belgian ensemble Il Gardellino and renowned vocal soloists such as Miriam Feuersinger and Daniel Johannsen for the first recording of the Bach Passion Oratorio BWV Anh. 169 (BWV S. 718). The event starts at 7 pm, registration is requested.

Erbauliche Gedancken Auf den Grünen Donnerstag und Charfreytag Uber den Leidenden Jesus, Jn einem Oratorio. entworffen von Picandern. Leipzig, 1725 Gotha Research Library, Th 8° 00697/14, p.193.

This oratorio is possibly an abandoned Passion project by St Thomas' cantor Johann Sebastian Bach from 1725. The enigmatic work, of which only the printed text by Bach's most important Leipzig poet Picander from 1725 has survived, is presented on the Belgian label Passacaille as an attempt at a partial reconstruction and completion. The work centres on human sympathy for the suffering of Jesus. Unlike the surviving Bach Passions, the work has a less dramatic, more lyrical character and is more comparable to a Passion cantata. The Passion story is not recounted literally according to the biblical text, but in a freely composed form. In the sense of an artistic experiment, this recording was intended to trace a previously unknown Passion aesthetic in Johann Sebastian Bach.

On the occasion of the CD presentation, background information on the recording, the composition, the theological and poetic peculiarities of the traditional text and the attribution problems of this enigmatic Bach work will be explained in addition to sound impressions. A reception is planned afterwards.

Due to limited capacity, please register by 6 May at veranstaltungen.fb@uni-erfurt.de or call 0361/737-5530.

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