Siobhan Stagg - Damian Močnik: Johannes-passion „Passio Domini nostri Iesu Christi secundum Ioannem“(„Das Leiden unseres Herrn Jesus Christus nach (2023)

The place and time of the premiere of Damijan Močnik's St. John Passion on Maundy Thursday 2011 in Ljubljana's largest hall make it clear what a universal claim the work wants to meet for believers and music lovers. This also includes the use of the Latin language and the renunciation of folkloric local color, which undoubtedly helps the work to be widely received. In addition, this St. John Passion seeks a connection to much older traditions, such as Gregorian chant, early polyphony and old compositional techniques such as falsobordone and organum. The composer focuses on those words from the Gospel of John that Jesus gave his disciples to take with them at the Last Supper: “I give you a new commandment: Love one another! By this everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you love one another.” These words turn out to be the crucial message that his listeners should take away from the passion story.

For the present CD production, Damijan Močnik has created a reduced version of his St. John Passion for wood, percussion and strings, which originally had a much larger cast. The recording was made on March 5, 2022 in Studio 1 of the Bavarian Radio. In addition to the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir, the Croatian conductor Ivan Repušić, who as chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra is energetically committed to contemporary music from the Western Balkans, also testifies to the authenticity of the interpretation. In Slovenia, the name of Damijan Močnik is associated with a lively and young choral music scene, in which he is widely talked about as a teacher, conductor and composer. For example, with the system of a "choir pyramid", with which he was able to inspire more than 1,700 singers to sing together at the traditional St. Stanislaus Diocesan High School in Ljubljana in 25 years. Močnik wants to “create a triangle between composer, performer and listener. Composers who also perform their works can get in touch with their audience much more authentically.” In general, contact with young people is a matter close to his heart, which, for example, brought him a lot of attention with a youth opera from 2018. In addition, he often provides choral compositions such as masses, hymns and motets, which became known far beyond the borders of his homeland. During his musical training, Močnik also sought exchange with the greats of the choral music scene, for example during a study visit with Eric Ericson in Sweden. In his own country he came into the limelight as early as 1995, when he won a composition competition with the choral movement A thousand years have passed on the occasion of the Pope's visit by John Paul II.