Macmillan, born in 1959, is a Scottish Catholic composer and this is a Catholic Passion, combining words from St. John’s Gospel with Latin and Greek texts, as well as some of MacMillan’s own words. The work, in two parts, consists of 10 separate movements with the final movement being an orchestral meditation on the words; Holy Immortal, Have mercy upon us.

In this performance the narrative role, was sung by the excellent youthful voices of the Wellensian Consort who conveyed the text in an appropriately restrained and unemotional manner. Whether chanting in octaves, thirds or mildly discordant four-part harmony every word could clearly be heard and their ensemble was generally impressive.

Christus (sung from the pulpit by the baritone Mark Stone) was commanding both in tone and presence. He immediately stamped his authority on the performance and in The Reproaches, the musical and emotional climax of the work, he demonstrated a vocal range of almost two octaves as well as enormous stamina in negotiating the long, high melismatic passages.

The combined Exeter Festival Chorus and the City of Bath Bach Choir formed the 8-part, Large Chorus which took on the other main characterisation roles such as Pilate, Peter and the gossipy and vengeful crowd. The chorus dealt admirably with the wide dynamic ranges, the intricate and complex rhythms, the harsh discordant lines and the close imitation demanded by the piece. Intonation was impressive in some of the long unaccompanied sections and their affirmative cry of “Tu es Petrus” after Peter’s denial was one of many dramatic highlights.

A wide range of orchestral timbres were drawn from the superb Southern Sinfonia with many players being called upon to play exposed and technically demanding solo passages.

Enormous credit must go to Nigel Perrin in preparing all of the musical forces so thoroughly and for guiding the performers through this incredibly demanding piece with such clarity of direction. This was a dramatic and sincere performance. A real triumph!

©Julian Sutton

These are the words of Chairman, Mervyn Harris, after the choir performed James MacMillan’s St John Passion in Wells Cathedral on March 16th 2013.  The City of Bath Bach Choir had joined Exeter Festival Chorus under their joint conductor, Nigel Perrin, with Mark Stone singing Christus, the Wellensian Consort as the narrator choir and Southern Sinfonia.   This was the first performance of the work in the South West, and the first time anywhere other than in major concert venues.

This is a very challenging work and required many hours of preparation and rehearsal, but it all seemed to come good on the night, and most of the singers will have gone home feeling a great sense of achievement.

This picture shows the performers and conductor, Nigel Perrin, receiving the applause at the end of the performance

Scotsman James MacMillan worked almost every emotion one can imagine into his setting of the Passion. It is brutal, overpowering; shocking, even; strident, breathtaking, contemporary; all consuming.

To perform it for the first time in the South West of England, in the presence of the composer: the massed choirs of the City of Bath Bach Choir, the Exeter Festival Chorus, the Wellensian Consort, the Southern Sinfonia; Mark Stone as Christus.

There could be only one conductor with the sheer guts to take on this Herculean task: Nigel Perrin.

It was more than a year to fruition. There were many sacrifices; all were worth it.

Perrin’s interpretation of this monumental work transformed it from a modern oratorio into a work of art, an act of religion; there was an intense conviction, from all, that heralded Easter.

The brashness of clashing, discordant brass; almost excruciatingly strident half and quarter tones and percussion fireworks laid out a cacophony of sound into which was woven a tapestry of choral brilliance. It was chilling but gripping, in your face but seeping to your soul; and then, suddenly, switched off to a cruelly disciplined tranquil poignancy. How much practice did that take?

Chorally, there were searing colours in the undertones; sometimes a hint of Scots lilt – and yet it is one of those works where you don’t go home humming a hit song. There aren’t any; it’s the emotion that stays.

Baritone Mark Stone, Christus, was powerful and eloquent.

Truly, awesome.

©Reg Burnard

Saturday 23 March 2013   7.30pm   Exeter Cathedral

City of Bath Bach Choir
Exeter Festival Chorus
Wellensian Consort – Choir of the Year 2010
Southern Sinfonia, Alexander Hohenthal Leader
Mark Stone Christus

Nigel Perrin Conductor

Wells Concert Tickets   £10, £12, £16, £18, £20, £22
Bath box office   01225 463362 (or bathboxoffice.org.uk)
Wells Cathedral box office   01749 672773

Exeter Concert Tickets   £12, £17, £22
Book online  Exeter Festival Chorus
Exeter Festival Chorus   0845 600 5441
Exeter Tickets   01392 665885

Download here a flyer                                                  

The dramatic, contemporary setting of St John’s Gospel by Britain’s greatest living composer, James MacMillan, will be performed for the first time in the West Country. Composed in 2007 and not yet performed outside Britain’s major concert centres because of the forces required and the technical difficulty of the piece, MacMillan’s thrilling St John Passion is now being taken on by City of Bath Bach Choir in collaboration with Exeter Festival Chorus and the Wellensian Consort (BBC Choir of the Year 2010). Renowned baritone Mark Stone will take the role of Christus, and the orchestra is the Southern Sinfonia, which has previously recorded other works of James MacMillan.

Of James MacMillan’s work, Nigel Perrin writes: “MacMillan’s compositions are characterised by their theatrical quality. He is contemporary but very accessible, using an immediately identifiable musical language – there is almost a film score quality to his music. One can identify clear references to Scottish and Celtic folk music, and there is also, for me, a moving sense of MacMillan’s own deeply held Catholic faith. When I’m listening to this St John Passion, I always find myself quite emotional by the end.”

As part of a pioneering mission to bring this compelling work to a wider audience, City of Bath Bach Choir and Exeter Festival Chorus are supported by the Arts Council of England and Somerset-based fashion brand Mulberry. These organisations have made it possible for the choirs to offer free tickets to senior music students at schools and colleges in Somerset, Wiltshire and Devon to attend one of the performances of the St John Passion. In addition, senior students have been invited to attend one of two study days, to work alongside the choirs in understanding and learning aspects of the piece. In all, a rich collaboration to do justice to what will become an iconic work. This is an opportunity for musical learning and engagement not to be missed.

See also the Wells Cathedral website

The Scottish composer, James Macmillan, is probably the most significant composer of this generation. His musical language is flooded with influences from his Scottish heritage, Catholic faith, social conscience and close connection with Celtic folk music, blended with influences from Far Eastern, Scandinavian and Eastern European music.

The work is dedicated to and was premiered by Sir Colin Davis and the LSO in the Barbican on 27 April 2008. It sets new standards in choral writing and, to quote Paul Spicer, is already viewed as a classic, a modern day War Requiem, a seminal work which will mark a very special place in the history of contemporary classical music. This work is a major achievement and a milestone in the development of the choral repertory. To follow in Bach’s footsteps in creating a work which shares a title with one of his great works rather than calling it something new and trendy shows another aspect of the fundamental nature of this work.

Saturday 22 June 2013   6.00pm   Roper Theatre, Hayesfield School, Bath

City of Bath Bach Choir
Nigel Perrin  Conductor

Download here a flyer for the concert

A Garland for the Queen was commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain to celebrate the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Ten British poets and ten British composers were bidden to create settings for mixed voices. The idea was to craft a 20th century ‘replica’ of the famous The Triumphs of Oriana (1601) which was presented to Queen Elizabeth I. We will be singing some of the old madrigals as well as a choice of modern songs creatively inspired by the earlier cycle. Britten’s opera Gloriana was also composed to celebrate the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953; the Choral Dances are taken from the Masque in Act II.

The Triumphs of Oriana 1601

• John Bennett: All creatures now are merry-minded
• Robert Jones: Fair Orianna seeking to wink at folly
• Thomas Weelkes: As Vesta was from Latmos hill descending
• Thomas Morley: Hard by a crystal fountain

Music from the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, 2 June 1953

• Herbert Howells: Behold O God Our Defender
• William Harris: Let my prayer come up into Thy presence
• SS Wesley: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
• George Dyson: Confortare: Be strong and of good courage
• Healy Willan: O Lord Our Governor

In Benjamin Britten’s centenary year

• Choral Dances from Gloriana Op 53
• The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
• Old Joe has gone fishing from Peter Grimes  Op 33
• Selections from Friday Afternoon  Op 7

A Garland for the Queen 1953

• Bliss: Aubade for a Coronation Morning
• Bax: What is it like to be young and fair?
• Vaughan Williams: Silence and Music
• Ireland: The Hills
• Tippett: Dance, Clarion air

Tickets £14 Children under 18 £10

Bath Box Office 01225 463 362 or bathboxoffice.org.uk
On sale in April 2013
Venue Roper Theatre, Hayesfield School, Upper Oldfield Park, Bath BA2 3LA

Johann Sebastian Bach: Jesu, meine Freude
Anton Bruckner: Mass in E minor
Benjamin Britten: Missa Brevis in D

City of Bath Bach Choir
Nigel Perrin Conductor

Tickets £8, £12, £16, £19, £21   Children under 16 £8
Bath Box Office 01225 463 362 or bathboxoffice.org.uk
On sale in September 2013

City of Bath Bach Choir
Marcus Sealy Piano

Nigel Perrin  Conductor

A three-night carolling extravaganza, packing the Pump Room in Bath despite foul weather and a host of other attractions, had a tantalising mix of old and new – with the bonus of the frankly off-the-wall.

And, as usual with this dedicated choir, it’s hard to define who gets the most enjoyment: singers, audience or the evergreen conductor, Nigel Perrin.

It is a remarkable achievement to remain musically near-perfect in a jovial, seasonal atmosphere where it would be easy to think standards can, for once, be relaxed.

But that’s not their way; thankfully.

The Three-minute Messiah (arranged by Peter Gritton with a little help from Handel) was hilarious yet technically brilliant and, though an old chestnut to choral grandees, using the tune of On Ilkley Moor baht ‘At, for the audience to sing While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks produced huge merriment.

The serious musical side was there, too: that lush setting of In Dulci Jubilo by Robert Pearsall allowed Perrin’s hands to work magical tonal delights; Peter Skellern’s Lullaby made you wonder if it was possible to get a choir of 40-odd singers to sing any more quietly  and what about Mel Torme’s famous hit, The Christmas Song?

Consistent, rock-like as ever was the long-standing accompanist, Marcus Sealy.

The Junior Choir, conducted by Jamie Knights and accompanied by Frances Ringer, showed they are waiting in the wings for their places in the senior line-up.  And, come to think of it, there are a few grey hairs nowadays…

Reg Burnard

©Reg Burnard Bath Chronicle 21st December 2012

Bach, Copland and Britten

Bach’s motet Komm, Jesu, komm got us off to a rather tentative start: perhaps it was the acoustic, but the ensemble was less than assured, and some of the entries a little uncertain.

Did it draw the short straw in rehearsal time? Then the choir formation was changed, and with it, a transformation in the sound. Copland’s In the Beginning is a magnificent setting of the Genesis Creation story for mezzo solo, chorus and piano. Beth Mackay’s unaccompanied introduction, rich and powerful, led into a remarkable combination of solo and chorus, urgent, dramatic, the writing alternately spare, as in the piano chords introducing the sections; and elegantly complex, the eight part harmonies vivid and warm.

The singing was a revelation, the dynamic balance satisfying and intense, contrasting with the warm resonant solo voice to bring out the full range of sound, building to an exultant climax. Nigel Perrin’s reading of the work and the resulting performance had real excitement: and the comment during the interval was “why haven’t we heard this before?” Copland at his most original and inventive.

Widor’s Cantabile and Final from the Organ Symphony No. 6 showed us his capacity for combining quiet mystery with a massive display of power and fortissimo, ideally suited to the Klais organ and played with virtuoso excellence by Marcus Sealy.

Britten’s Saint Nicolas tells the story of the saint’s life in a series of episodes scored for tenor and treble solo, choir, strings, organ and piano. Nathan Vale’s clear vibrant tenor links the work, a role similar to the evangelist in Bach; and Finn Lacey gave a confident and convincing performance as the boy Nicolas.

There is some quite complex choral writing, sung with sensitivity and commitment, particularly in the final Nunc Dimittis, legato and peaceful, with a lovely tenor solo line, before the final hymn, God moves in a mysterious way, in which the audience joined. Nick Thorne and Jamie Knights played the piano, Marcus Sealy the organ; Lorna Osborn led the string ensemble, and Nigel Perrin’s intuitive grasp of the structure of the work gave this performance authentic and dramatic integrity.

Peter Lloyd Williams

©Peter Lloyd Williams Bath Chronicle 5 November 2012

Saturday 26 January 2013 9.30am–5pm

St Michael’s Without, Broad Street, Bath

Bach’s dramatic setting of the St John Passion is no less than a brilliant sacred opera in which the chorus gets to be all the parts from the angry crowd of Jews to the awe-struck onlookers after the crucifixion. It opens with the majestic chorus Hail, Lord and Master, moves through beautiful, fervent chorales and manic mob-scenes and closes with the eloquent final chorus Sleep well and rest in God’s safe-keeping. The day’s workshop will conclude with a cameo performance which will embrace the whole drama of this seminal work.

Workshop Director: Nigel Perrin

Tickets: £20 Score hire: £2.50 (English language version)

Download here a booking form.

Booking and further information: Richard Young, workshops(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)bathbachchoir.org.uk