George F. Handel - St. John Passion (1960)

1. Part 1 through 25
2. Part 26 through 41
3. Part 42 through 51
4. Part 1 through 9
5. Part 10 through 18

Kathryn Harvey, soprano
Gertrud Pfenninger, Pilate and alto arias
Ernst Haeflinger, Evangelist and tenor arias
Derek Olsen, Jesus and bass arias
Heinz Wehrle, organ
Annemarie Wehrle, harpsichord

Bach Choir of Zurich
Winterthur Symphony Orchestra
Bernhard Henking  - conductor

The 19th-century musicologist Friedrich Chrysander believed George Frideric Handel composed this work. According to Chrysander, this passion was originally performed in Hamburg on 17 February 1704, which he felt was consistent with the time Handel lived in Hamburg. Recently, this performance date has come under serious question as to its authenticity.In addition to Chrysander's strong conviction about the authenticity of the composition, other "evidence" that possibly suggests Handel as the composer:

  1.  The handwriting of the copyist resembles that of Handel but isn't identical.
  2.  Johann Mattheson's musical journal "Critical musica" (ca. 1722-5) and "Der volkommene Capellmeister" (1738)
   both dismiss the St. John Passion while the latter intriguingly refers to its "world-famous composer".

So why was the passion dropped from the HWV catalog (Verzeichnis der Werke Georg Friedrich Händel)? One major reason is that Handel virtually always "borrowed" from his earlier works in composing new works. The St. John Passion is an obvious exception to this "rule".So, who composed it then? We will probably never know the answer to this question, but "candidate" names that have been proposed to date include:

1.    Georg Böhm (1661 - 1733) - present day, the most likely candidate
2.    Reinhard Keiser, Director of the Hamburg Opera (1674 - 1739)
3.    Christian Ritter (1645/50 - after 1717) 

--- gfhandel.org

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