rssGood Friday, Bach's Birthday and a Full Moon
How to celebrate: the return of music to the church after Lent, with the St. Matthew and the St. John Passions.
March 21 marks the birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach. This year it is Good Friday, the day for which the Passions were composed and it is a Full Moon.
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 – will be the earliest Easter Sunday since 1913. Easter Sunday is defined as the first Sunday after the “Ecclesiastical Full Moon” (the Church’s approximation of when a Full Moon will occur, generally within a day of the actual Full Moon) after March 20th, which was the date fixed by the Church as Equinox in 325 AD. The earliest possible Easter Sunday is March 22nd, which last occurred in 1818, and will next occur in 2285. Image of the full moon of March 21, 2008 courtesy of Matt Wedel.
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Gustav Leonhardt conducting the St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244.1. |
Jonathan Peter Kenny sings an aria from the St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244.39. |
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