Our next concert

 

St John Passion by JS Bach
7:30pm on Saturday 29th March 2025
Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon



Our first concert of 2025 is
J S Bach’s wonderful St John Passion.Picture of J S Bach in 1948

In the St John Passion, Bach sets to music the Passion of Christ as told in St John’s Gospel chapters 18 and 19. Telling of Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion, this is a very dramatic piece. The biblical narrative is presented by the tenor solo (as the Evangelist), while various other roles (Jesus, Pilate, and the disciples) are taken by other soloists; and the chorus plays the part of the crowd.

Bach added verses from contemporary hymns. These would have been well known to his audience but were sung by the chorus and soloists. They serve to involve the audience further. He also added solo Arias using contemporary religious poetry as commentary.

The overall effect is at once religious, dramatic, and highly emotional. It is one of the masterpieces of Baroque music and it is a delight to be performing it again.

About this performance:

In the St John Passion, Bach is telling a story and it is important that the audience can follow the narrative. For this reason we are singing it in English, using a recent new translation by Neil Jenkins.

In a ‘first’ for Stratford Choral Society we will be accompanied by an orchestra of period instruments, from Instruments of Truth and Time, based in Oxford.

And we have a stellar line-up of soloists: Nathan Vale (Tenor) as the Evangelist, Alexander Ashworth (Bass Baritone) as Christ, Miriam Allan (Soprano), Timothy Morgan (Alto), Simon Wall (Tenor), and Jimmy Holliday (Bass).

The St John Passion was premiered in 1725 and Bach performed it many times during his lifetime. He revised the score several times, and we shall be singing his final version dating from 1749.

This performance is made possible by a generous legacy from the late Colin Nichols who sang for many years with the Stratford Choral Society,

Brought to you by Making Music
Copyright © 2025 Stratford-upon-Avon Choral Society