Research Note: Performing Bach's Passion Music in a Late Modern Context

Abstract

The performance of Bach's Passion of St. Matthew in the Cathedral of Kristiansand (Norway) in 2010 is examined here as a characteristic cultural encounter with sacred symbols in a late modern context. The present study attempts to illuminate how modern participants reflect on the sacred origin of the work and its emotive appeal. The study is interdisciplinary, combining musicology and sociology of religion. Our methodological approach comprises observation, individual interviews with organizers and conductors, and group interviews with singers. The event is contextualized by theories of modern musicology, general sociology, and the sociology of religious emotion. Our findings indicate that, despite a variety of religious interpretations and attitudes, the work's reference to common existential conditions of human life inspires a sharing of emotions.