Northern Spire

About The Passion According to St. John:

    

The Passion According to St. John (2024) is intended for use during the Good Friday Liturgy. It's composition came about to fill a need for a new setting of the Passion at St. Peter's Church in Saratoga Springs that would serve to heighten the Gospel text and highlight the powerful story of Christ's Passion without distracting from it with an overly-dramatic musical setting.  This Passion setting is intended to be sung through in its entirety, with simple, accompanied chant tones for the Evangelist (narrator) and Jesus (baritone), and with metered choral settings of the words of the Crowd (turba).  An Assembly Refrain is also provided, which is introduced and guided by the Cantor and Choir.  The simple keyboard accompaniment may be provided by organ or piano, depending on the circumstances.  The roles of Cantor (guiding the singing of the Assembly) and Evangelist (narrator) may be performed by the same singer or two separate singers, depending on the circumstances and/or available singers. Similarly, the words of Pilate are given to the Evangelist, but the option is provided that Pilate's words may be sung by a separate singer if so desired.

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Additionally, this Passion setting is designed to complement the music of Good Friday Adoration Suite – my setting of the various texts for the Adoration of the Cross at the same Passion Liturgy.

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Click on the title page image above to view a sample score.

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