Passiontide - St Matthew Passion BWV 244

This Sunday, 29th March, is Passion Sunday. Passiontide is the name for the last two weeks of Lent, beginning on the Fifth Sunday of Lent and ending on Holy Saturday. The second Sunday in Passiontide is Palm Sunday which this year (2020) is Sunday 5th April.

Ezekiel 37.1-14 "The valley of dry bones: "I will put my spirit in you, and you shall live" is a reminder that in this bleak time we can count on God to sustain us. In the Old Testament the dry bones represent the people of Israel, and Ezekiel's vision brings assurance of their restoration. The raising of Lazarus is Jesus' sign of this restoration in the New Testament, life out of death at its most dramatic. At this time of great trial for humanity Passiontide has perhaps even greater significance for us all.

Psalm 130 "Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord - hear my voice!" is also worth reading.

Music for Passiontide
There has been a significant volume of sacred music composed for Passiontide, not least Bach's "St Matthew Passion", which was due to be performed next weekend in our church.

Below is St. Matthew Passion on YouTube licensed by Sony.
St Matthew Passion - Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 | (Complete) (Full Concert) (J. S. Bach)


and there is further info and many links and downloads to sections of it here on Choral Wiki.

From Youtube:-
"The St Matthew Passion is a sacred oratorio from the Passions written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra.  It sets chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew (in the German translation of Martin Luther) to music, with interspersed chorales and arias. It is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of classical sacred music. Although Bach wrote four (or five) settings of the Passions only two have survived; the other is the St John Passion.

The St Matthew Passion was probably first performed on Good Friday (11 April) 1727[1] in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where Bach was the Kantor of the School and Directoris Chori musici of Leipzig."