Gottfried August Homilius was a student of J.S. Bach's who worked in Dresden for much of his career. He was apparently highly thought of in the late eighteenth century, with many of his works circulating in copies. This Johannespassion, or St. John Passion, shows the influence of Bach's Passion settings, with biblical narration of the events of Christ's crucifixion interspersed with chorales and arias (by an unknown text author) that express emotional reactions to what is happening. The chorus has a dual role, singing the ...
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Gottfried August Homilius was a student of J.S. Bach's who worked in Dresden for much of his career. He was apparently highly thought of in the late eighteenth century, with many of his works circulating in copies. This Johannespassion, or St. John Passion, shows the influence of Bach's Passion settings, with biblical narration of the events of Christ's crucifixion interspersed with chorales and arias (by an unknown text author) that express emotional reactions to what is happening. The chorus has a dual role, singing the chorales and also embodying the words of the crowd urging Christ's killing. The Johannespassion is one of several Homilius works unearthed by Germany's Carus label, an enterprise that's especially welcome inasmuch as church music remains among the least understood aspects of the music scene of the later eighteenth century: the festive works of Mozart and Haydn were probably far from typical. Homilius' Passion setting is a mixed bag stylistically, with chorales that Bach could have...
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