This concert has been postponed from 2020
JS BACH St John Passion
Bach’s first great sacred masterpiece, the St John Passion, recounts Christ’s final days from the betrayal of Judas to the preparation for laying the body in the tomb.
It is the genius of Bach’s extraordinary music that brings to life the humanity of the drama. The chorus in turn takes on the role of the people as well as reflecting, together with the solo arias, on the stages of the story. The narrative is sung by the Evangelist (tenor) and the entire work is bound together by chorales – German hymns greatly enhanced by Bach’s harmonic invention, the whole work culminating in perhaps his finest chorale: ‘then from death awake me, I will praise you for ever’.
The Royal Choral Society will perform this outstanding work in the original German, together with The Hanover Band – one of Britain’s finest period instrument orchestras, and an exceptional line up of soloists, all conducted by Richard Cooke.
Nicholas Mulroy tenor (Evangelist)
Jimmy Holliday bass (Christus)
Rebecca Lea soprano
Alexander Chance countertenor
Joseph Doody tenor
Tristan Hambleton bass
ROYAL CHORAL SOCIETY
THE HANOVER BAND
Richard Cooke conductor
Image: Christ of St John of the Cross by Dali © CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection.
HANOVER (Not Hannover; Germany) In terms of British history the majority of the music we play is from the Hanoverian period. Hanover also refers to Hanover Square in London, where Haydn performed his symphonies and arias in the Salomon Concerts in the 1790’s.
BAND (ref: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians)
‘An instrumental ensemble, larger than a chamber ensemble. Thus the ’24 violins’ of Louis XIV were called ‘la grande bande’ to distinguish them from Lully’s ‘petits violons’, and Charles II’s similar ensemble was known as ‘the King’s Band’. By extension, ‘band’ came to mean an orchestra in colloquial British usage’.
THE HANOVER BAND a period name for a period orchestra.