With at least 174 performances in 2017, it is fair to say that Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion enjoys unusual popularity in the Netherlands. Many scholars have wondered why, but without...Show moreWith at least 174 performances in 2017, it is fair to say that Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion enjoys unusual popularity in the Netherlands. Many scholars have wondered why, but without looking at the formative years of the Dutch Passion tradition: the interwar period between 1919 and 1939, when, as a result of economic distress, fear for moral breakdown and social fragmentation, the Dutch rediscovered an inward sense of nationality. First of all, this thesis shows that the tradition of yearly Passion performances, established by the conductor Willem Mengelberg, became a ritual through which citizens could profess this nationality. Subsequently, it analyses how a diverse group of intellectuals imbued Bach’s masterpiece with sublime properties. Finally, it turns its attention to peripheral regions, where locals took the initiative to organize their own Passion performances, enabling large swathes of the population to share and participate in a national musical culture. This thesis thus moves beyond musical, textual and dramaturgical aspects and integrates Dutch interwar Passion performance within its historical, social and cultural context. It regards Passion performances as civic rituals fostering emotional identification among both the active and passive participants. This approach aims to do justice to the ideological, religious and socio-economical heterogeneity of Dutch interwar society, as reflected in the vast array of primary sources under scrutiny. By investigating the origins of the Dutch passion for the Passion, this thesis seeks to elucidate the relations between music and national identity.Show less
