From Bach to the Beatles...and Bach

What can be said about Johan Sebastian Bach’s music that hasn’t already been said? I guess that’s a bit like asking what’s left to say or write about The Beatles? In the sixty-four years since the greatest Pop/Rock band of all time started their unparalleled recording career, you would be excused for thinking, “Not much.”

Well, speaking as someone who has been a fan since the days of “Love Me Do”, “Please Please Me’ and everything that came after, I’m constantly surprised by discovering things about them, and their music, that I never knew before. The Beatles’ universe is a well that never runs dry.

So, if that can be said about a phenomenon as comparatively recent as The Beatles, how much more can it apply to a man whose music and influence now span three centuries? The sheer volume of existent material, be it biography, analysis, interpretation, appreciation, movies and documentaries, sheet music and recordings, is nigh infinite. And no matter how much you know, or think you know, about the man and his music, the road to the end of knowledge has no end.

As a composer, and expander of the boundaries of musical possibility, Bach has no equal. His influence over everything that came after him is vast. It’s ironic that, for half a century after Bach’s death in 1750, his enormous musical output was largely neglected. And yet, he exercised a profound and acknowledged influence on the likes of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. And later composers, including Schumann and Mendelssohn, did much to revive interest in, and appreciation of Bach’s music. Indeed, it was Mendelssohn who, in 1829, presented the centenary performance of the St Matthew Passion. Music lovers owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mendelssohn and others, whose passion enabled the preservation of this sublime work, and all Bach’s other wondrous music for us to love and enjoy today.

The Passion is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of Baroque sacred music. I would go so far as to say it’s one of the greatest musical works of any genre. It has had a huge influence on later composers of works based on the life and suffering of Christ, all the way down to Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar. It has every bit as much power, emotion and, well - passion - as the modern work. And it’s an absolute joy for a choir to perform.

So, what more can be said about Bach? That depends entirely on you. The more you hear and learn, the more there is to say and share. If you’re already familiar with St Matthew Passion, you’ll know that a sublime musical experience awaits you at Venue 114 on Sunday, November 8. If it’s as yet unknown and unheard, then prepare yourself to be blown away. It’s beautiful. It’s exquisite. It’s very, very moving. And to have a work of this stature and quality accessible to Sunshine Coast audiences is a rare event, and one not to be missed.

Oriana sincerely requests the pleasure of your company at this very special, and thoroughly enriching musical presentation.

Ian Rix

October 2, 2026.

J.S.Bach St. Matthew Passion

Sunday 8 November, 2:00pm

Venue 114, Sportsmans Parade, Bokarina

For bookings and information, go to www.oriana.org.au