Notices

Bach St John Passion 8 pm Good Friday 21 March

J.S. Bach St John Passion

J.S. Bach’s St John Passion will be performed at 8 pm on Good Friday, March 21, in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Written for Good Friday in 1723, the Passion is a compact and intensely dramatic setting of St John’s description of Christ’s last hours.

A special guest this year will be Paul Whelan, singing as Jesus, a role he premiered in the English National Opera staged version. He will also sing Jesus in the Royal Festival Hall for the Bach Choir’s St Matthew Passion, and in July, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in the Sydney Opera House during the papal visit. Other soloists will be Sue Densem, Ruth Reid, Wally Enright, Howard Harvey and Chris Whelan, with John Murray as the Evangelist. The orchestra will be led by David Williams, with Ellen Doyle, cello, and Grant Bartley, harpsichord, and the performance will be directed by Don Whelan.

On Easter Sunday morning, the liturgy of the 10.30 a.m. Solemn Mass will be supported by Handel’s Worthy Is The Lamb & Amen chorus, with Mozart’s Coronation Mass, and Alleluia (from Exultate Jubilate) featuring American soprano Madeline Bender.

The cathedral music programme maintains an extensive repertoire of masses and motets, sung each Sunday at the 10.30 a.m. Solemn Choral Mass. New members are welcome to the 7.30 pm Wednesday evening rehearsal in the Music Centre. Sight reading ability is expected. Scholarships and awards, worth up to $2000 per year, are available to suitable applicants. Those interested are invited to contact the musical director, Don Whelan, phone 358-5873.

Handel Messiah 3 pm Sunday 14 December

Schubert First

Two newly published major works by Schubert were given a first NZ performance by the CBS Choir and Orchestra in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament at 3 pm on Sunday, September 9, 2007. The popular 5th Symphony was framed by premieres of his Magnificat and First Mass in F Major.

Schubert’s First Mass was written in 1814, when the composer was 17, for his parish church. It is a remarkable achievement, reflecting the classical traditions maintained by his composition tutor, Kapellmeister Antonio Salieri, but filled with astonishing emotional depth, ushering in the new age of romantic expression. For the original performance, Schubert chose to conduct, assembled the singers and large orchestra from his friends, and included some delectable and difficult arias for his soprano sweetheart.

The Magnificat, dating from two years later, also includes an uncommonly high soprano part for the same reason, but gives equal scope (as does the Mass) to the usual other three soloists. Again, a full symphonic grandeur and some very individual and striking harmonic touches make this a significant example of Schubert’s genius.

Soloists were soprano Sue Densem, alto Ruth Close, tenor Wally Enright and bass Howard Harvey. Leader of the orchestra was David Williams, with Ellen Doyle as principal cello, and musical director was Don Whelan.

Among Schubert’s acclaimed other orchestral works, the 5th Symphony is the most charming, indebted to the formal structures of Haydn and particularly Mozart, but brimming with lovely melodies and showing some daring willingness to break the classical mould. A reduced instrumentation, dispensing with trumpets and drums, reminds the listener of Schubert’s genius as a writer of songs. This work was conducted by Grant Bartley, assistant musical director at the cathedral.