Blood, Wounds and Heart Religion: J.S. Bach Reception in Nineteenth Century Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

One of the most important locales for J.S. Bach performances in nineteenth-century America was Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The Bethlehem Choral Union, founded in 1883 under the direction of J. Fred Wolle, performed the first complete rendition in America of the St. John Passion (BWV 248) in 1888 and the St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) in 1892. After the dissolution of the Choral Union in 1892, Wolle led the Central Moravian Church Choir in an 1894 performance of Parts I and II of the Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248). Because all three performances occurred in the complex of buildings of the Central Moravian Church, this led to a religious interpretation of the music by the audience through a Moravian theological framework.