Goethe Choir presents The Crucifixion by John Stainer

Welcome to the Goethe Choir's special performance of The Crucifixion by John Stainer! Join us at St. Ann's Church of Ireland for an unforgettable afternoon of beautiful music with soloists Conor Prendiville (Tenor) and Gyula Nagy (Bass), ably supported by Charles Marshall (Organ). The Crucifixion is an oratorio retelling the passion of Christ through music. Experience this renowned piece in person, surrounded by the stunning architecture and acoustics of the church.

John Stainer (1840-1901) was born in Southwark and entered the world of church music as a boy chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral. After some time at Tenbury and Magdalen College, Oxford he returned to St Paul’s Cathedral in 1872 as organist. There he raised standards and overhauled many of the traditions around choral music and liturgy. Throughout the latter decades of his career Stainer was endowed with a host of honorary teaching, adjudication and leadership positions. His music education advocacy and academic achievements were significant; he published treatises on music theory and organ technique and was a trailblazer in the study of Medieval and Renaissance music. During his retirement years, Stainer enjoyed travelling to the warmer 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 was 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. It brings together passages from all four gospels, as well as texts from Philippians and Lamentations.

A great achievement of the work lies in its passages of meditative simplicity. The centerpiece unaccompanied chorus God So Loved the World is a sublime movement of outstandingly beautiful simplicity. Other examples include the tenderly uttered unison refrain of the second hymn, “Crucified, I turn to thee, Son of Mary, plead for me,” and the evocative tenor and bass chorus which depicts Jesus’ seven last words from the cross.

Don't miss this opportunity to be moved by the incredible voices of the choir as they bring this classic masterpiece to life. Reserve your spot now for an afternoon of inspiration and harmony!