On the evening of Passion Sunday, the usual 6.00pm slot for Evensong was taken over by a performance of J S Bach’s St John Passion. It was directed by James Sherlock and sung by our Parish Church choir, accompanied by David Moore (organ) and a small chamber orchestra of professional musicians. This bald description gives no sense of the moving musical account of the Passion which these musicians gave us that evening.
Father Stephen’s introductory note in the programme held a clue:
“When the actor Alec McCowen learnt St Mark’s Gospel off by heart for a stage performance, he wrote that once he had learnt the text and established the way in which the stage could be used, he had no further need to be imaginative – ‘the story started to push me around.’ That is the purpose too of our listening to the Passion in this way – that imaginatively, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually it should start to push us around …”
The choir’s performance proceeded to move us in all those ways. Paul Robinson’s superb performance as the Evangelist set the tone: he had the audience on the edge of their seats time and again as his fine, sensitive tenor voice brought to life the pain and pathos of St John’s gospel text.
Then Nick Mogg’s vivid portrayal of Pilate and Edward Jones’s serene Christ added drama to the unfolding Passion story, which seemed to reached its terrifying climax in the choir’s obdurate cries of “Crucify! Crucify!” The long, long moment of absolute silence at the end of the performance indicated how deeply the audience had become involved in this Passion and in Bach’s magnificent music.
Performing the Passion with a small choir and orchestra in this way worked so well. Everyone was important: each singer in the choir sang a couple of arias, and without exception all were beautifully done. It was a revelation also to hear the choruses under James’s direction sung with such clarity and musical intelligence. The same clarity in the orchestral playing enabled us to hear all the lovely details in Bach’s score in both singers and instrumentalists: there was some admirable obbligato playing from the flutes and oboes, as well as from the ’cellist George Ross. And of course David Moore accompanied impeccably on the organ throughout.
It was especially satisfying that, thanks to the considerable generosity of a few members of the congregation, the performance was offered free to anyone who chose to attend. The singers’ fees were funded by a kind couple who wish to remain anonymous, and Jenny Macdonald-Hay generously topped up the substantial contribution of the Music Trust’s Ian Macdonald-Hay Memorial Fund to cover the entire cost of the orchestra. Without this sponsorship, such a performance could not even have been considered. So it was particularly pleasing that a large audience came to hear this performance – so large that many more came from beyond the congregation than from within it. We are privileged to have such outstanding musicians at Hampstead, and it was deeply satisfying to be able to draw so many into our beautiful church to share with them the experience of this wonderful performance of the St John Passion.
St John Passion – Review
Gill Perrin