St John Passion

Bach’s musical settings of the stories of Christ’s passion – his arrest and crucifixion – reflect the essence of his Lutheran belief that faith can be deepened by reenacting the suffering of Jesus and reminding ourselves of his sacrifice. Bach’s St John Passion emphasises that idea in its urgent combination of raw drama and transcendent beauty. The decade’s breakthrough baroque conductor Peter Whelan joins the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, leading soloists and Oxford Philharmonic Choir at the Sheldonian Theatre to lead this Maundy Thursday performance of Bach’s great work of suffering, redemption and hope.