Tenebrae bring their trademark passion and precision to this dramatic programme, contrasting Bach's iconic motets with the sacred vocal music of Sir James MacMillan.

Renowned for their technical difficulty, Bach's motets are pillars of the choral repertoire, requiring minute attention to detail as well as a full emotional range. Here, Tenebrae performs the three most well-known of the set, culminating in the joyful Singet dem Herrn.

Like Bach, Sir James MacMillan has written much of his music for the church, and his settings of the Tenebrae responsories paint a vivid picture of the events of Holy Week. In 2021 he was asked to compose a work for Tenebrae to perform alongside the Bach motets, and the result is a moving setting of words by Henry Vaughan, in I Saw Eternity.

Performed a cappella (unaccompanied).

Nigel Short conductor