# Good Friday & Classical Music



## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Yesterday I read the threads about US orchestras, that are on the verge or actually filing for bankrupcy. In Holland the link between Classical Music and the common man, who knows nothing and has nothing with classical music is established by two ways: Good Friday and André Rieu. On Good Friday the Dutch establishment gathers in the town of Naarden (close to Amsterdam) to listen to Bach's _Matthäus Passion_. The evening television news shows us the prime minister and all the other important guys and dolls. For Classical Music this happening is vital, because this link with the common man is going deep. Nobody is mocking J.S.Bach, while Jesus on the cross is being mocked at. On the other, light-hearted side there is André Rieu, who is bringing the Straussian glamour and _joie de vivre_ on the television screens. People subconsciously associate Classical Music with these two events and these two pillars are IMHO why Classical Music in Holland will keep going on. Ton Koopman, Gustav Leonhardt, Jos van Immerseel: they all became known because of the St. Matthew Passion.


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