This magnificent medieval cathedral
in the heart of the city of Durham
is the ancient setting for a piece of contemporary music,
which, since its premiere in1981,
has deeply moved audiences both here and in Europe,
establishing itself as something of a masterpiece.
It is a passion, a form that Bach successfully explored
in the early 18th century,
but one that in our secular age,
composers turn to less frequently.
It is the work of Arvo Pärt, a man in his early fifties,
Estonian by birth,
now an Austrian citizen living in West Berlin,
but until 1980, living and working in Soviet Russia.
He has written symphonies, orchestral works,
chamber pieces, a cello concerto,
a cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten,
a collage on B.A.C.H. and much, much else.
Many leading musicians have been drawn to his work
as diverse as Gidon Kremer, the violinist,
the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,
Keith Jarrett, and of course, the Hilliard Ensemble itself.
At the center of his work are his vocal pieces,
most of them overtly religious.
Indeed, he dates his most recent period of creative development
in the 1970s to his encounter with plain chant
and the spirituality of the Eastern Church.
It is this influence we are to hear tonight.
Arvo Pärt's ”St. John Passion" is a setting in medieval style
of chapters 18 and 19 of The Gospel of St. John,
The Easter Story:
Christ and his disciples' journey
from the Garden of Gethsemane, the trial by Pilate
and Christ's death on the cross.
Pärt has used as his text the Latin of the vulgate
and he employs it with the utmost clarity.
His musical forces are simple: a small choir,
four soloists who take the part of the Evangelists,
two singers as Christ and Pilate
and five solo instruments, including the organ.
Tonight, these are provided by the Hilliard Ensemble,
a group which specializes in music written before 1600.
They have nevertheless a broad repertoire
with a particular commitment to Pärt's music,
and since their foundation in 1974.
they have become recognized
as one of the world's finest vocal ensembles.
The St. John Passion is simple, almost mesmeric music
that speaks of an ancient world
with a total awareness of modern times.
Pärt makes great use of silence during the piece.
He says, ”The devotional anticipation of the pause
is precisely what I value so much.”
Here now are the musicians of the Hilliard Ensemble
with their conductor, Paul Hillier
performing Arvo Pärt's St. John Passion.