Johann Sebastian Bach
St Matthew Passion
BWV 244
The St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) is Bach's monumental setting of the Passion narrative from the Gospel of Matthew. Scored for double choir, double orchestra, and multiple soloists, it is widely considered one of the greatest achievements in Western choral music. Its opening chorus, "Kommt, ihr Töchter," immediately establishes the work's profound grief and devotion.
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Movements
Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen
Herzliebster Jesu
Ja nicht auf das Fest
Wozu dienet dieser Unrat
Wo willst du, daß wir dir bereiten
Er sprach: Herr, bin ich’s?
Ich bin’s, ich sollte büßen
Erkenne mich, mein Hüter
Ich will hier bei dir stehen
O Schmerz! Hier zittert das gequälte Herz
Ich will bei meinem Jesu wachen
Was mein Gott will, das g’scheh allzeit
O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß
So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen
Ach! nun ist mein Jesus hin!
Mir hat die Welt trüglich gericht
Er ist des Todes schuldig!
Weissage
Wer hat dich so geschlagen
Wahrlich, du bist auch einer
Bin ich gleich von dir gewichen
Was gehet uns das an?
Befiehl du deine Wege
Laß ihn kreuzigen!
Wie wunderbarlich ist doch diese Strafe!
Laß ihn kreuzigen!
Sein Blut komme über uns
Gegrüßet seist du, Jüdenkönig!
O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden
Der du den Tempel Gottes zerbrichst
Andern hat er geholfen
Sehet, Jesus hat die Hand
Halt! laß sehen
Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden
Wahrlich, dieser ist Gottes Sohn gewesen
Herr, wir haben gedacht
Nun ist der Herr zur Ruh gebracht
Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder
Chorus
Chris Webb
Chris Webb is a bass and former choral scholar of Clare College, Cambridge, where he also sang with the University Chamber Choir. Now a lay clerk at Southwark Cathedral, he performs with the Monteverdi Choir, London Voices, Farm Street Singers and Blossom Street, and has sung abroad with the Zürcher Sing-Akademie. His operatic roles include Colline in Puccini's La bohème for Merry Opera Company and Sarastro in Mozart's Magic Flute for Opera Anywhere; he took part in ENO's Opera Works programme in 2016–17 and studies with Alex Ashworth.
Emily Wenman
Emily Wenman is a soprano who completed her MA in Vocal Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama under Leah Marian Jones, and now studies with Gail Pearson. She is a principal soprano with Blossom Street, the St Martin's Voices Fellowship at St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Gesualdo Consort, Seren Singers and Newman Hall Choir, and a former choral scholar of King's College London and the BBC National Chorus of Wales. An experienced singing teacher and vocal animateur, she has led projects for the BBC National Chorus of Wales, the Arts Active Trust and WNO Max.
Felicity Davies
Felicity Davies is a soprano who graduated from Trinity College of Music in 2010, winning the TCM Vocal Contemporary Prize. She sings with the BBC Singers, Ex Cathedra and the Armonico Consort alongside a busy solo career, with oratorio credits including The Creation, Elijah, Mozart's Requiem and Messiah, and contemporary works by Judith Weir. Her operatic roles range across Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute and The Pirates of Penzance, and she appeared at the BBC Proms in 2010.
Gareth Treseder
tenor
Graham Neal
Graham Neal is a tenor who read music at the University of Surrey, winning the Robert Naylor prize, before further study on ENO's Knack course and at Trinity College of Music. His operatic work has taken him to the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, l'Opéra Comique and Grange Park Opera. As a consort singer he performs with the Monteverdi Choir, The King's Consort, Philharmonia Voices, English Voices, Sonoro, Orpheus Britannicus, the Hanover Band and Cappella Nova, and sings with the London Oratory choir.
Phillipa Thomas
Phillipa Thomas is a soprano who began in the Cantamus Girls' Choir before reading music at the University of York, where she took an MA, won the University Concerto Prize and became a founder member of Blossom Street. She continued her studies at Birmingham Conservatoire, winning the Conservatoire Singing Prize and placing as a finalist in several competitions. Alongside operatic work she remains active on the London choral scene and continues to sing with Blossom Street.
Rene Bloice Sanders
René Bloice-Sanders is a baritone who trained as a treble in Canterbury Cathedral Choir and joined the National Youth Choir in 2004. He holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Nottingham (2010) and a Master's in Vocal Studies from the Royal Academy of Music (2013), where he gained a Distinction and the Nora Carstairs Bland Award. His operatic roles include Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Marcello in La bohème, Marco in Gianni Schicchi and Belcore in L'elisir d'amore, and his concert work spans Handel's Messiah, Bach's Johannes and Matthäus Passion, Brahms' Requiem and Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony.
Musical Director
Hilary Campbell
Hilary Campbell is a freelance choral conductor who founded and directs the professional chamber choir Blossom Street, and is Musical Director of Bristol Choral Society, Chiswick Choir and the Music Makers of London. Her guest conducting includes the BBC Symphony Chorus, Trinity Laban Chamber Choir, the BBC Radio 4 Daily Service Singers and the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Chorus, whom she prepared for Mahler's Symphony No. 2 under Semyon Bychkov; she also directed the P&O Ferries Choir to victory in BBC Two's The Choir. She collaborates each year with Judith Weir at the Royal Academy of Music, works as an adjudicator and workshop leader, and is a published, prize-winning composer and founding member of the Voices of London Festival.
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