Plans are well advanced for the first performance in Orkney of one of the greatest pieces of choral music ever written – J S Bach’s “St Matthew Passion”.  The performance will take place at St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall on 11 March 2006 at 6pm.

The idea for the event came after a collaboration last year between Orkney’s Mayfield Singers and St Mary’s Music School of Edinburgh, when together they performed Bach’s “St John Passion” in Dunkeld Cathedral. John Grundy, the Director of Music at St Mary’s, suggested to Neil Price of the Mayfield Singers that together they should consider putting on the “St Matthew Passion”.

“Because the “Matthew” is written for two choirs and two orchestras”, explained Neil Price, “neither of us could consider a performance without teaming up with someone else, so this seemed like an opportunity that we had to grasp”.

St Mary’s will provide one of the orchestras and the other will be the Orkney Camerata. In turn, the Mayfield Singers will be one of the choirs and the other will be the Chapterhouse Singers, a choir which is also directed by John Grundy and associated with St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh.

John Grundy will conduct the performance and all the soloists will come from the choirs. It will take place in St Magnus Cathedral at 6.00pm on Saturday 11 March and will be repeated in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, on Saturday 25 March also at 6.00pm.

The “St Matthew Passion” is a musical setting for Chapters 26 and 27 of St Matthew’s Gospel, interspersed with chorales and arias commenting on each step of the action, which culminates in the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ. Bach wrote the work for Good Friday 1727 in Leipzig and it was given twice more in his lifetime. It then lay neglected until it was re-discovered by Mendelssohn in 1829, since when it has become established as one of the fundamental works in the choral repertoire.

Written in two parts and lasting three hours, it would have originally formed part of a service with a sermon between the two parts. However in modern performance, the sermon is usually replaced by an extended hour-long interval. During the interval in Kirkwall, and included in the price of the ticket, supper will be available in the St Magnus Centre. This will be provided by the church guilds of Sandwick and Birsay and their helpers, part of the proceeds going towards a charity in Malawi that supports AIDS victims. Rev Fiona Lillie and Becky Ford of Stromness Church identified this charity during their cycling trip to Malawi in 2005.

“We have been working hard on the music since September,” said Neil Price, “and we are all agreed that it is truly inspiring. It is a great opportunity and privilege to sing this music in both Orkney and Edinburgh. It is a huge undertaking to organise and on behalf of the choir, I would like to thank the numerous helpers who are involved, both musically and logistically. The performances should be memorable occasions”.

He added that any offers through him from anyone able to help in providing two nights’ accommodation for the Edinburgh visitors would be most welcome.

Tickets will be on sale from mid-February onwards and will be available from choir members and Neil Price at Orcadia (Chartered Accountants), 3 East Road, Kirkwall (Tel: 872804). A large audience is expected for this unique event in Orkney and those wishing to come are asked to purchase their tickets in advance so that numbers for catering can be determined.