St Matthew Passion

11th April 1727 might not have seemed a particularly unusual day for the workaholic choirmaster Johann Sebastian Bach, but even he realised soon afterwards that the music he unveiled that day – the ‘St Matthew Passion’ – achieved something unprecedented and profound that was destined to outlive its creator. This most communicative of Bach’s works tells the Passion story through music so affecting and inspiring that it appears to transcend its religious context. Thomas Zehetmair marks Easter Saturday 2014 with Bach’s monumental masterpiece. Buses from Alnwick, Hexham and Carlisle. Tickets: £10-£33