For music lovers, this guide to Bach's St. Matthew Passion takes listeners through each part of the piece and discusses its dramatic structure, characters and narrative, orchestration, form, treatment of the text, and how the music connects to the story of the final week of Jesus' life. Lederer also provides background on the historical context, Bach's biography, and his other works, and ends with discussion of the Bach revival and performance history of the work. No index is provided. Lederer is a critical writer on music and other cultural issues and the author of books on Chopin and Debussy. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)