St Peter's Parish News
Friday 18 April 2025 6:00 pm
Stainer’s Crucifixion
This evening, you are invited to a free Sacred Concert, when St Peter’s Church Choir will sing Stainer’s Crucifixion.
The Crucifixion: A Meditation on the Sacred Passion of the Holy Redeemer was written by John Stainer and first performed on Ash Wednesday, 1887 in St Marylebone Parish Church, near London Euston. It is based on the format of the famous Passions of JS Bach, with the Biblical narrative of the crucifixion, interspersed with choruses, solos and congregational hymns, but written for an ordinary parish church choir. The Crucifixion is a Victorian period piece, with elements of Mendelssohn, SS Wesley, and the Evangelicalism of Moody and Sankey. It offers a huge range of emotion, from the triumphalist “Fling Wide the Gates” to the affecting, Wagnerian chorus of male voices crying out “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?”
Stainer’s Crucifixion is an emotional appeal to the individual to be personally drawn into the drama of Good Friday. All are welcome to share in this musical meditation, as we reach the finale of Holy Week and look forward to the joy of Easter.
