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THE CRUCIFIXION (John Stainer) by the OSWALD SINGERS
March 15 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
The Crucifixion is an oratorio for Easter, retelling the passion of Christ through music. John Stainer’s original version from 1887 was scored for tenor and bass soloists with choir and organ and was, in many ways, deliberately straightforward so it could be performed widely by both professional and amateur church musicians.
John Stainer (1840-1901) was born in Southwark and entered the world of church music as a boy chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral. At age sixteen, he moved to Worcestershire to take up the position of organist at St Michael’s College, Tenbury, a newly established specialist school for Anglican church music. From here he progressed to Magdalen College, Oxford, and enrolled as a student whilst conducting his duties as choirmaster and organist. He composed large amounts of liturgical music, directed numerous ensembles and eventually obtained his doctorate and became an examiner for degree candidates. In 1872 he returned to St Paul’s Cathedral where, as organist, he raised standards and overhauled many of the traditions around choral music and liturgy. During his retirement years, Stainer enjoyed travelling to the restorative climes of Italy. He died in Verona on Palm Sunday in 1901.
Although Stainer’s compositional output was extensive, the oratorio The Crucifixion has become his single most enduring legacy. In the tradition of the masterpiece passion settings by Johann Sebastian Bach, Stainer’s work portrays the events leading to Christ’s death on the cross. Stainer had encountered Bach’s passions as a chorister, singing at the first English-language performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion when he was fourteen. When he came to compose his own passion oratorio at the height of his career in 1887, Stainer drew on many of the elements that make Bach’s music so powerful: narrative delivered through solo arias and recitatives, interspersed with choral reflections, rousing crowd scenes and accessible congregational singing. The libretto was by William John Sparrow Simpson (1859-1953), an Anglican priest and writer who had also provided the text for Stainer’s earlier cantata St Mary Magdalen. It brings together passages from all four gospels, as well as texts from Philippians and Lamentations.
Tickets from Ann Diamond 0775 934 1295 or email info@Stellamarisproject where ticket will be sent electronically and details of payment method given
Ticket in advance for Adults £8.00 or under 16’s £5.00
On the door for Adult £10.00 or under 16’s £6.00