The St. Matthew Passion is one of the most moving works in music history. It condenses human suffering, compassion, and hope into a musical language of overwhelming expressiveness. Bach composed this Passion not merely as a retelling of Christ's Passion, but rather as a musical drama that deeply touches and thrills the listener, raising questions of guilt, love, and redemption. Two choirs, two orchestras, soloists, and an evangelist interweave to create a spiritual Gesamtkunstwerk of rare magnitude. A work that leaves one speechless—and speechless before its depth.

Johann Sebastian Bach. St. Matthew Passion - BWV 244

Mozarteum Foundation

With the death of Benjamin Britten on December 4, 1976, the music world lost one of the most important composers of the 20th century. Only shortly before his passing had the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt gained "an impression of the rare purity of his music." Overwhelmed by the "magnitude of such a loss," Pärt wrote his Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten in 1977 as a homage to the deceased artist, but also as a meditation on death. The bell tone at the end of the six-minute work fades into a tense silence, out of which the opening bars of Mozart's Requiem emerge. It remained unfinished after his death on December 5, 1791, thus making him a myth. Mozart: lux æterna.

Mozart Requiem on Mozart's death anniversary

In the antiphon "O Radiant Dawn," which serves as the theme for this Chorage program, Scottish composer James MacMillan moves from the delicate touch of a ray of light to the rich spectrum of colors of the ever-awakening morning. In MacMillan's "A New Song," a setting of Psalm 96, the choral voices, singing a new day to the Lord, build upon a sustained pedal point, which arguably expresses the life-giving foundation of the earth, where the "primordial light" dwells (heard in Mahler's setting). Organist Stephan Pollhammer unfolds the splendor of daybreak with Reger's powerful Choral Fantasia on the Morning Star.

Chorage® #2 A Radiant Dawn

Pfarrkirche Salzburg-Itzling

Monasteries were not only places of spirituality, but also cultural centers. They attracted composers whose music was preserved in the archives and passed on between friendly monasteries. In the 1960s, Robert Münster, then head of the music department of the Bavarian State Library, embarked on a musical treasure hunt: He rummaged through music cabinets and organ lofts in monasteries throughout Bavaria – with great success. In the process, he discovered true rarities, including works by W.A. Mozart. In our concert, you have the unique opportunity to experience further treasures from Münster's legacy live for the first time in over 250 years.

Michael Schneider

Events

Upcoming events

Aug 15, 2026

Heavenly Harmonies: A Musical Journey Through Salzburg-Bavarian Monasteries · Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum

Past events

Mar 15, 2026

Johann Sebastian Bach. St. Matthew Passion - BWV 244 · Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum

Dec 5, 2025

Mozart Requiem on Mozart's death anniversary · Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum

Future and recently performed repertoire

Conductor in St. Matthew Passion by Bach

Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum

About

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