St John Passion

SATB and soloists (soprano, tenor, and two baritones), with organ or small ensemble
Chilcott's mighty setting of words from the Gospel of St John is a dramatic yet optimistic retelling of the Passiontide story. As with Bach's great Passion settings, the role of the Evangelist is taken by the tenor soloist, who provides a melodious narrative throughout the work, in arioso style. The words of Jesus and Pilate are performed by solo baritones. Within the narrative, the SATB chorus becomes a crowd or a group of soldiers, commenting on the story in short outbursts, although the larger role of the choir is to perform the four meditations and five hymns that support the story. For the meditations-two of which include soprano solos-Chilcott has selected English poems from the 13th to the early 17th centuries.The five well-known hymn texts are set to new, original melodies, which are also intended for performance by an audience or congregation.

Chilcott's setting of the Passion is an hour-long work telling the story of Christ's trial and Crucifixion using the text from St John's Gospel. The work is scored for soprano, tenor, and two baritone soloists, mixed choir, solo viola and cello, brass quintet, organ, and timpani. As in the great Passion settings by J. S. Bach, the story is narrated by a tenor Evangelist. The narrative has been designed to be sung in an arioso style that gains momentum as the drama unfolds. The solo roles in the narrative are identified with specific instruments from the ensemble: the Evangelist is accompanied by the viola and cello, Pilate by two trumpets, and Jesus by horn, trombone, tuba, and organ. The role of the choir within the narrative is to play the part of the crowd or a group of soldiers who comment from time to time in short outbursts. The larger role for the choir is the singing of four meditations that punctuate various points in the drama.