I was reading in the Daily Guidepost for today about Bach’s
St. Matthew Passion. The author told a story about Mendelssohn’s teacher
finding the music being used to wrap cheese in a shop. When Bach first wrote
the music it was only performed one time during Bach’s life and dismissed.
One hundred years later around 1827, Mendelssohn brought it
back to become one Bach’s most known creations. I was intrigued by the story and
thought how this great contribution was almost lost and being used as wrapping
paper. I thought that is how most of us see our lives as just worthless
wrapping paper. However, within us there is music that God hears and
understands.
After doing some reading with the aid of Google, I found
that the discovery of the music was much different from what was written in the
Daily Guidepost. There was a family connection between Bach’s family and the Mendelssohn
family and the music was handed down by a family member. Mendelssohn was a
teenager when he discovered the music and changed the instrumentation to give
it a more modern sound with musical instruments of the day, a hit that has
lasted until this day.
The story is still intriguing because we sometimes do not
see the beauty or understand the value of something until after it is gone.
If you want to view a portion of the St. Matthew Passion, either copy and past the following link or just click on it. The music is with subtitles and is tied to the Easter season.
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