Question: Hi Lyn. I'm in Wiesbaden. Here in Europe, most of us, over the Easter break, went to see one of the Bach Passions, as you had recommended, either the St. John or St. Matthew. And, actually, some of us had the opportunity to see the St. John Passion with the Thomanerchor. So, my question is, I was actually wondering if you could comment on the role of Christ and the Passion of Christ in terms of human history?

LaRouche: Well, the key thing, in these Passions--obviously Bach had a very clear idea of these--and the trick, of course, in the optimal situation, as in the case, for example, of the St. Matthew Passion, as in the case of Leipzig, that you have an audience, which is part of performance of the Passion. You have the soloists, you have the boys [choir], and so forth; you have the other singers; you have the orchestra. So, all of these are playing a part.

Now, the trick is, by getting the audience fully involved in the Passion--also in part of the performance of the Passion--they're now reliving the events of the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ. Thus, they're there--in the mind, in the imagination--they are there. And, they come to know what that is.

The art of Bach, is, by using the method of counterpoint, the way he does it, to create the musical tension, which corresponds to the drama: It creates a stage of the mind, a stage in the imagination, is done by the music. But the personality of Christ is something, that the individual in the Passions--the Passions are intended to convey: That Christ is willingly sacrificing mortality, for the immortality of his mission. And, that's where the power lies. Because the average individual is frightened by mortality, by the sense of it. And very few have this sense, that we find, say with the Jeanne d'Arc case: the sense that life is a talent, of finite dimensions, which has an beginning and an end, and you can not control that indefinitely. Therefore, what's important in mortal life, is what it means. What it means for generations to come. And therefore, is your life being spent wisely? Is it being spent in a way which is meaningful? Is it spent in a way, that you're looking back upon your life, can say, "This was good. This was useful. This was a life, that was needed by mankind. It performed a function."

And, that's the sense, that the Passions--both of them--give. I mean, the various St. John Passions have that, and the St. Matthew Passion, of course, has it in a very special way.

-30-