It's Not Easter Is It ?

I have some Christmas related cd's that I don't ever think of playing except around those couple of weeks in December. The same restrictions don't seem to matter in the same way with Easter themes. Hence today it is Bach's St Matthew Passion by the Gabrieli Players and Paul McCreesh. McCreesh uses the concept of having just one singer to a part, so that there is no full chorus, the parts for the chorus also being sung by the eight soloists who include Magdelena Kozena, Mark Padmore and Susan Bickley. I prefer this approach which gives the work a more intimate and detailed feel. Based on the biblical text, it is possible to follow the translation of course but that needs an intense attention span over two and a half hours of the double cd. What is intersting if not following so closely, is that Bach's music, while not being joyful, doesn't take on an obviously tragic and mournful aspect, almost as if there is a pre-echo of the consolation to come.