Bach St John Passion

St Georges Singers, Poynton

For their first major concert since returning to live singing after the lock-downs St Georges Singers will be performing one of the greatest masterpieces of spiritual music, Bach’s St John Passion at the Royal Northern College of Music on Saturday March 26th. 

The Passions were written for performance in church at Easter with the congregation singing the hymns or chorales and with a priest giving a sermon, but this work is so full of drama that it can almost be thought of as Bach’s response to the popularity of the new Italian Opera. Bach carefully selected the text from a number of sources to create a vivid version of the story of the Passion. The Evangelist narrates the story, while the other soloists take the roles of Jesus Christ, Pontius Pilate and St John. The choir at different times are soldiers, priests and the people in various moods from joyful praise to baying for blood. It is an emotional rollercoaster for both performers and audience but concludesin the uplifting final chorale with words of joy and praise. 

The choir will be joined by the excellent orchestra “Baroque In The North” (formerly known as Northern Baroque) and a line-up of five superb soloists and the performance will be directed by Neil Taylor. It’s going to be a memlorable evening.