The Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society to Sing Under Dr. Koussevitzky in the "St. Matthew Passion"

Next Sunday and Monday, April 26 and 27, Dr. Serge Koussevitzky is to conduct two performances of Bach's renowned St. Matthew Passion, with the Harvard Glee Club and the Radcliffe Choral Society, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and six noted soloists filling the respective parts. The work is of unusual length, and, as with the Mass in B minor, will be given in two sections, one in the afternoon and one in the evening of each of the two days. Both performances will take place at Symphony Hall in Boston.

Dr. Albert Schweitzer has written an excellent description of the Passion music which may be fittingly quoted here:

Story of Passion

"The dramatic plan is at once simple and ingenious. The story of the Passion is cast in a series of pictures. At the characteristic points the narrative breaks off, and the scene that has just passed is made the subject of a pious meditation. This is effected in arias that are usually led up to by an arioso-like recitative. At minor resting points the feelings of the Christian spectators are expressed in chorale verses. The choice of these fell to Bach, and it is just in the insertion of these choral strophes that the full depth of Bach's poetic sense is revealed. It would be impossible to find, in the whole of the hymns of the Christian church, a verse better fitted to its particular purpose than the one Bach has selected.

"Altogether the "Saint Matthew Passion" falls into about twenty-four scenes, twelve small ones, indicated by chorales, and twelve larger ones, marked by arias. The problem of representing the action of the Passion and at the same time of giving due weight to the devotional element is solved in the most perfect way imaginable. The more we realize the dramatic plan of the "Saint Matthew Passion", the more we are convinced that it is a master piece."

Symphony Program

For the regular Friday and Saturday concerts of this week, Dr. Koussevitzky has announced the following program: Handel's Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra Opus 6, No. 6; Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 in F major; and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in F minor.

The series of Symphony Concerts in Sanders Theatre, closes tonight with the performance of Beethoven's First Symphony, Mr. Hill's "Sinfonietta for String Orchestra," and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.