Bach

On this day in 1829, Felix Mendelssohn conducted Bach's St Matthew Passion. Bach was still relatively unknown, even though he had died almost a century before. More than one thousand people were unable to get tickets, so two additional concerts had to be scheduled.

It was only then that scholars began to analyze and appreciate the artistic majesty of Bach - one century from his first, long-forgotten performance of this piece! 

So great was the sensation that composer Hector Berlioz marveled, "There is but one God--and Bach and Medelssohn are His prophets."