Why does the Oboe Da Caccia move us to tears in St John Passion?

At the crucial moment in St John Passion when we learn that Jesus is dead, Bach uses the hollow-sounding oboe da caccia to ease us into the sense of emptiness, loss and disbelief. ______________________________________________________________________________ You can hear OAE Principal Oboe Katharina Spreckelsen play the oboe da caccia and talk more about the instrument in this video on our channel: ______________________________________________________________________________ This video was made during the break of our recording of Bach’s St John Passion. The Passion is not simply a beautiful piece of music, but a reflection on suffering and an attempt to make sense of it. Since our lives have been disrupted by the pandemic, the Passion now speaks to us from a fresh understanding of suffering and ignites in us a personal sense of compassion and empathy. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Marquee TV presents a new filmed realisation of this monu