Gottfried August Homilius: St. Mark Passion at Berliner Dom

About the Event

Experience classical music like never before in this astonishing performance of masterworks by Homilius at Berlin's remarkable Berliner Dom.

Some 250 years ago, the Dresden Kreuzkantor Gottfried August Homilius created his 'St. Mark Passion,' a work as large‐scale as it was rich in color, which the Berlin Cathedral Choir brings to life once again shortly before Easter. Artful and sensitive arias, expressive choral movements and gallant orchestral sounds awaken the the biblical Passion account to life with great expressive power. Homilius' music is dramaturgically reminiscent of the great works of the Baroque, but at the same time finds its own sensitive tonal language in its striving for simplicity. The final chorale of the Passion, with its unusually joyful tone, is a surprise, for it already heralds Easter. Next to the great Passions of his predecessor Johann Sebastian Bach, Homilius' St. Mark Passion is, as it were, an insider's tip: to be sure, an almost incalculable number of compositions testify to Homilius' creative power, which is why he was called the 'greatest church composer' by his contemporaries. But after his death, Homilius soon fell into oblivion — for centuries his extensive oeuvre lay dormant. Only recently has there been a Homilius renaissance. The Berlin Cathedral Choir under the direction of Adrian Büttemeier, accompanied by the baroque orchestra Aris & Aulis, is participating in the rediscovery of this literally magnificent music.