For the first time, the Carmel Bach Festival presents masterpiece on historic instruments.

Three of J.S. Bach’s pieces – the B Minor Mass, the St. John Passion and the St. Matthew Passion– have formed the cornerstone of the Carmel Bach Festival repertoire since its inception. These have been performed numerous times throughout the festival’s 81 years. When Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Paul Goodwin rises to the podium and takes the baton for the St. Matthew Passion this year, there will be a difference. The entire orchestra will perform the masterwork on historical baroque instruments for the first time.

Festival dramaturge David Gordon is excited about the change.

“One of Paul’s greatest contributions to this festival is bringing in a group of outstanding baroque woodwind players joining the group of historic string players we already had,” Gordon says. “Historic instruments have a more gentle and subtle timbre. You hear different colors and textures.”

This translates to gut-stringed violins and wooden flutes, instead of the metal and synthetics we’re accustomed to seeing and hearing on the classical stage. It requires the entire orchestra to tune a full quarter-step lower than usual.

“It’s more rustic,” Gordon says. “Tuning down to A415 from A440, the music sounds warmer, with more subtlety and splendor.”

The piece is massive, composed for two orchestras, two choirs and six soloists, and runs nearly three hours. Modern scores include a boys’ choir, but Maestro Goodwin presents Bach’s original 1727 score, which excludes the younger choir.

“It’s the most important work of the festival, the centerpiece of the entire festival,” Goodwin says. “Bach wrote it late in life and considered it his greatest achievement. It’s the closest he came to writing opera, with great narrative power, combining vivid storytelling, tremendous instrumental writing, and grand chorales together in a perfect architecture. It’s one of the greatest pieces of religious music ever written. It’s the absolute high point of Bach’s art.”

Gordon spent decades as a tenor specializing in performing the storytelling evangelist role inSt. Matthew, singing it some 200 times.

“It’s the greatest tenor assignment, ever,” Gordon says. “It’s an iconic work, on a grand scale, yet very intimate. It can be interpreted in numerous ways, so you can hear or perform it multiple times and still not tire.”

Goodwin has similarly grandiose terms to describe the piece’s structure. “A number of moments exist that are unbelievable,” he says. “One is how it starts, with a rhythmic bass line not unlike a heartbeat, which builds as the score unfolds. There’s an aria with no bass – unstable, but incredibly moving. The chorales are different than most. They’re sometimes pillars of religious liturgy, yet Bach uses them to propel the work dramatically.”

Goodwin and Gordon agree on the score’s portrayal of Jesus from Matthew 26:3-9. “In Matthew you hear Jesus’ doubt when he says, ‘My Father, take this task away from me,’” Gordon says. “There’s frailty, guilt, humility. Bach interprets this beautifully.”

“Bach presents the gospel and crucifixion in a real way,” Goodwin adds. “He portrays Jesus as a mortal, with human foibles.”

A handful of scores in the classical lexicon – among them Bach’s B Minor Mass, Ode To Joy (thefinale of Beethoven’s Ninth), Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet For The End Of Time – have the ability to change listeners pre-cognitively, affecting their perception of the piece, whether or not they realize it’s sinking in. The St. Matthew Passion is one of them.

“Even the non-religious listener is taken by this piece,” Goodwin says.

“Some music bowls me over every time, no matter how many times I’ve heard or sung it,” Gordon says. “St. Matthew does that. Remember this was a five-hour church service in Bach’s time, with no intermission. Even if you are not a devout Lutheran like he was, it forces you to react. It’s not about high art, it’s whether this music touches, inspires and – if we’re lucky – changes us.”

J.S. BACH’S ST. MATTHEW PASSION 3pm Sunday, July 15 and July 22. Sunset Center, San Carlos and Ninth, Carmel. $55-$79. 624-1521, bachfestival.org.

High Notes

The Carmel Bach Festival runs across two weeks at multiple venues, a range of price points and despite what you might think of as “classical music” in general, covers a lot of musical territory. Here are a few highlights for a well-rounded and diversified listening experience.

O Fortuna Bach’s First Orchestral Suite and Orff’s Carmina Burana. 7:30pm Saturday, July 14; July 21. Sunset Center, San Carlos and Ninth, Carmel. $40-$89.

Eight Seasons A blend of Vivaldi and tango. 7:30pm Monday, July 16; July 23. Sunset Center, San Carlos and Ninth, Carmel. $37-$82.

When in Rome Music from 80 years before Corelli. 2:30pm Tuesday, July 17; July 24. All Saints’ Church, Dolores and Ninth, Carmel. $30-$35.

A Night at the Opera Selections from Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Wagner and Bernstein. 7:30pm Tuesday, July 17; July 24. Sunset Center, San Carlos and Ninth, Carmel. $37-$82.

Medieval Hymn Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu nostri. 8:30pm Wednesday, July 18; July 25. Carmel Mission, 3080 Rio Road, Carmel. $73-$88.

Community Concert an informal showcase of small ensembles. 7pm Thursday, July 19. St. Francis Xavier Church, 1475 LaSalle Ave., Seaside. Free.

Revolutionary Beethoven Two quintets. 2:30pm Friday, July 20; July 27. All Saints’ Church, Dolores and Ninth, Carmel. $30-$35.

Lute Songs part of the Foyer Concerts series. 1pm Friday, July 20; July 27. Sunset Center Theater Foyer, San Carlos and Ninth, Carmel. $37.

Heroic Symphony Bernstein’s “On the Town,” Copeland’s “Appalachian Spring” and Beethoven’sThird Symphony. 7:30pm Friday, July 20; July 27. Sunset Center, San Carlos and Ninth, Carmel. $37-$82.

Young Artists’ Showcase featuring young musicians from the Central Coast. 2:30pm Saturday, July 21. Sunset Center, San Carlos and Ninth, Carmel. $11.

Baroque Gems featuring works by Vivaldi, Corelli and Bach. 5pm Wednesday, July 25. Church in the Forest, 3152 Forest Lake Road, Pebble Beach. $41.