01.03.2017
St Matthew Passion
St Matthew Passion, an oratorio by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), will be performed at the Mikhailovsky Theatre on 20 March. The recital, dedicated to the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, is based on chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew and consists of four parts: The Last Supper, The Trial, The Crucifixion and The Burial. The orchestral fugues, choral pieces, recitatives and arias for soprano, contralto, tenor and bass are all borrowed from orthodox church service tradition. Leading critics have referred to the work of Metropolitan Hilarion as an extremely rare example of how the centuries-old barrier between religious and secular music can be lifted and the world views of Christians from the Eastern and Western traditions brought closer together.
The world premiere of Metropolitan Hilarion’s St Matthew Passion took place exactly 10 years ago. On 27 March 2007, the oratorio was performed in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory by the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of the State Tretyakov Gallery, conducted by People’s Artist of the USSR Vladimir Fedoseyev. Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow spoke at the premiere, with Metropolitan Kirill (today Patriarch Kirill of Moscow) in attendance. The Vatican also supported the event. On 29 March 2007, the oratorio was performed in Rome in the Auditorium Conciliazione, from where it was broadcast live on Italian television. In the 10 years since its premiere, Metropolitan Hilarion’s composition has been widely performed across the world, from Kamchatka to Melbourne and Toronto.
The composer’s life story is somewhat unusual. Metropolitan Hilarion studied Composition at the Moscow Conservatory, but his life radically changed when, at the age of 20, he became a monk. He was made a bishop at the age of 35 and wrote St Matthew Passion when he was the appointed Bishop of Vienna and Austria. Metropolitan Hilarion is currently the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and is the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations in the Moscow Patriarchate. Speaking about writing St Matthew Passion, Metropolitan Hilarion has said: “I wrote the work practically without pause over three weeks. I barely slept, stopped answering the phone and would even be thinking about my composition at two or three in the morning, when I was trying to get to sleep. Although the title of the work clearly indicates Bach’s influence, I was also influenced by Russian church music. And there are echoes of the styles of later composers, in particular Shostakovich and Prokofiev.”
The work of Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) will be performed at the Mikhailovsky Theatre with an orchestra, choir, and soloists Natalia Mironova, Irina Mikhailova, Dmitry Golovnin and Alexander Bezrukov.
The world premiere of Metropolitan Hilarion’s St Matthew Passion took place exactly 10 years ago. On 27 March 2007, the oratorio was performed in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory by the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of the State Tretyakov Gallery, conducted by People’s Artist of the USSR Vladimir Fedoseyev. Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow spoke at the premiere, with Metropolitan Kirill (today Patriarch Kirill of Moscow) in attendance. The Vatican also supported the event. On 29 March 2007, the oratorio was performed in Rome in the Auditorium Conciliazione, from where it was broadcast live on Italian television. In the 10 years since its premiere, Metropolitan Hilarion’s composition has been widely performed across the world, from Kamchatka to Melbourne and Toronto.
The composer’s life story is somewhat unusual. Metropolitan Hilarion studied Composition at the Moscow Conservatory, but his life radically changed when, at the age of 20, he became a monk. He was made a bishop at the age of 35 and wrote St Matthew Passion when he was the appointed Bishop of Vienna and Austria. Metropolitan Hilarion is currently the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and is the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations in the Moscow Patriarchate. Speaking about writing St Matthew Passion, Metropolitan Hilarion has said: “I wrote the work practically without pause over three weeks. I barely slept, stopped answering the phone and would even be thinking about my composition at two or three in the morning, when I was trying to get to sleep. Although the title of the work clearly indicates Bach’s influence, I was also influenced by Russian church music. And there are echoes of the styles of later composers, in particular Shostakovich and Prokofiev.”
The work of Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) will be performed at the Mikhailovsky Theatre with an orchestra, choir, and soloists Natalia Mironova, Irina Mikhailova, Dmitry Golovnin and Alexander Bezrukov.
