Oratorio Passion according to St. Matthew - Johann Valentin Meder

Johann Valentin Meder (1649-1719)
Passionsoratorium nach Matthäus
Oratorio Passion according to St. Matthew
Passion-Oratorio selon Saint Matthieu


Nicki Kennedy – Sopran
Hannah Morrison – Sopran
Dorothee Merkel – Alt
Gerd Türk – Tenor
Christian Hilz – Bass

Kölner Akademie
Orchester Damals und Heute
Michael Alexander Willens - conductor / chef d'orchestre



At the beginning of the seventeenth century, German Passion music was strongly influenced by the Italian Oratorio. Heinrich Schütz was perhaps the composer most responsible for introducing the Italian style to Germany. Among the list of composers paving the way to Bach in this tradition was the composer, organist and singer Johann Valentin Meder. His St. Matthew Passion was most likely written in 1701 in Riga.

Meder’s work captivates through its clarity and its accessible style. Some of the expressive melodies and texts are from contemporary Passiontide chorales. In accordance with the performance practice of the time, Michael Alexander Willens has assigned the vocal parts to five solos singers who double as chorus and soloists. Although the specified instrumental ensemble is relatively small – two oboes (doubling on recorders), two violins, and basso continuo – Willens and the Kölner Akademie are able to draw from it the remarkable wealth of color and contrast that is already inherent in Meder’s work.