Handel - Brockes-Passion (HWV 48)

Handel - Brockes-Passion (HWV 48)

The Apollo Ensemble performs Händel’s Brockes-Passion (HWV 48) in the Oudhoornse Kerk in Alphen aan de Rijn, The Netherlands. The Brockes-Passion is a German oratorio libretto by Barthold Heinrich Brockes first published in 1712 and revised multiple times in the years after. Brockes was an influential German poet who re-worked the traditional form of the Passion oratorio, adding reflective and descriptive poetry into the texture of the Passion. The most famous setting of the text is by Händel. It is not known exactly why or when the composer set the text of the Brockes-Passion, which was already used by other composers, but it is known the work was performed in Hamburg in 1719. Händel's Brockes-Passion is said to be a worthy contribution to the genre, with passages of great beauty, such as the duet for Mary and her son. Bach was influenced by the work in his famous St John Passion.