St. Mark Passion In Sydenham

Apr 04, 2013

A love for music, and hours of practice combined with a deep passion for the events of Easter produced a more than memorable musical offering that was enjoyed by close to 100 listeners at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Sydenham on Good Friday.

Easter represents the most solemn event in the Christian calendar and that feeling was both captured and shared at performance of Charles Wood's Saint Mark Passion by choir members of St. Paul’s United in Harrowsmith, St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Sydenham, Trinity United in Verona, St. George's Cathedral in Kingston and singers from the local community.

The performance opened with the impressive and illustrious sounds of the church organ, masterfully played by Ian Bevell, organist and musical director of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Kingston. The organ accompaniment greatly assisted in setting the solemn and highly dramatic tone of the performance and Bevell's emotive playing ranged from soft, reflective, lightly played sections in the first gospel section of the piece to the later thundering, spine tingling sections when Jesus tells his disciples that the hour has come when he will be betrayed. These moods were doubled in feeling as the chorus also expertly portrayed a wide range of feelings, depending on the section of the narrative. They sung a solemn, reflective lament in the second gospel and conversely sang in open, full voices with no holds barred when they told of Jesus' warning to Peter of the third crow of the cock in the third gospel. The key solo sections, sung by Neil Hobbs as the Evangelist, Phil Rogers as Jesus, George Turcotte as Judas/ High Priest/Bystander, Ralph McInnis as Peter, Connie Shibley the soprano solos and Maid 1, Paul Belshaw as Pilate and Gayle Robertson as Maid 2, each shouldered much of the musical drama in this highly narrative piece and every soloist sang their roles with precision, feeling and musical adeptness.

Conductor Brad Barbeau, the musical director at St. Paul’s in Sydenham definitely had his work cut out for him in this complex piece and his skillful management of the 30 + member choir proved that he was more than up to the challenge. High points in the piece included the chorus' suspenseful anticipation of Christ as he came to Gethsemane and fell to the ground to pray, as well as the gorgeously multi-layered chanting of the text "Crucify Him". Listeners were visibly moved by the performance and filed out of the church quietly following the dramatic performance. Afterward, I had a chance to speak with Rev. Bridgewater about how this kind of performance suits the events of Easter. “It can often be very difficult to articulate the mystery of Good Friday, the death of Jesus and the resurrection. It's sometimes easier to let the scriptures speak for themselves and for the music to add that dramatic effect and element. These community concerts are also a great opportunity for singers from the various local area church choirs to come together. So often we hear of how religion creates boundaries and this is a chance for various religious groups in the community to come together and to share at a very important time of the year.”