St Mary’s Church in Timaru is set to celebrate Passiontide with a special choral performance.
On Saturday, St Mary’s choir will be joined by special guests from Christchurch and Dunedin to perform The Crucifixion by John Stainer.
The oratorio was composed in 1887 for a soprano, alto, tenor and bass choir and organ.
The St Mary’s choir will be bolstered by members of the Timaru District Choir as well as Dunedin Cathedral Choir tenor Teddy Waters, Christchurch Cathedral Choir bass Timo Niehausmeier and St Mary’s own Josh Anderson on the organ.
St Mary’s musical director Catherine Anderson said the piece was very appropriate for this time of year.
‘‘Essentially it tells the story of the passion of Christ. It’s a narrative interspersed with choruses and solos and then hymns for the congregation or audience to join in.
‘‘Words will be provided for that, and people are warmly encouraged to sing along, but equally, if they’d rather not, then they can just sit there and lap up the atmosphere in the surrounds of the church.
‘‘We last performed this in April 2023, and we thought it was time for a revival this year.’’
It was great to have the St Mary’s choir augmented by some great soloists as well as other singers from around South Canterbury, she said.
‘‘It’s certainly something that suits a bigger choir. It’s got some really dramatic parts for the choir, so it’s really nice to be able to have those singers joining us.
‘‘It’s also been exciting to hear the organ at it’s fullest in some parts. That really helps paint the picture and the colours behind the music and behind the story.’’
The hour-long performance will be held at 5pm at St Mary’s Church and will be a koha donation at the door to attend.
