The Bach-Mendelssohn Project
Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
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The Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia performing St. Matthew Passion. Photo by Sharon Torello.
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The Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia in rehearsal for the Bach/Mendelssohn St. Matthew Passion. Photo by Sharon Torello.
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The Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia in rehearsal for the Bach/Mendelssohn St. Matthew Passion. Photo by Sharon Torello.
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Mendelssohn's original Bach St. Matthew Passion full score. Throughout the score, Mendelssohn made dynamic and articulation marks in light pencil, preserving the original manuscript. Photo courtesy of the Bodleian Library, Oxford University.
In celebration of their 140th season, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia reconstructed Felix Mendelssohn's 1841 revision of Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion, in an American premiere at Girard College Chapel. Mendelssohn's edits to the original score were designed to popularize Bach among mid-19th-century audiences, who were more likely to study than to perform the composer's work. Artistic Director Alan Harler, who traveled to Oxford University to study Mendelssohn's handwritten edits, conducted the February 8, 2015 performance. Participating musicians included the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, soprano Susanna Phillips, mezzo-soprano Marietta Simpson, tenor Yusuke Fujii, bass Andrew Bogard, and Michael Stairs, organ. Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia also produced a "BIG SING" concert, during which audience members will be invited to sing several of Bach's St. Matthew Passion chorales.
Additional unrestricted funds are added to each grant for general operating support.