Sarum College is an ecumenical study and research centre with an international reputation for excellence in theological education and spiritual reflection.
Sarum College offers a distinguished location for meetings, conferences, events and functions with full catering services.
Sarum College Bookshop is Salisbury's most established independent Christian and theological bookshop.
The Sarum College Library has an outstanding academic theological collection of more than 40,000 books covering all denominations.
Meet the Academic Staff
Paul BurdenCoordinator, Centre for Formation in Ministry and Director of Contextual Learning Read more
Jon MorganCoordinator of the Centre for Theology, Imagination and Culture Read more
Beth DoddDirector of Studies, Centre for Formation in Ministry and Lecturer in Doctrine and Theology, Arts and Culture Read more
All academic staff
- This event has passed.
The Passion According to J.S. Bach
- Course Dates: Thu 5 March 2015, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Bach’s revised 1736 score of the St Matthew Passion begins: Passionis D.N.J.C. secundum Matthaum – The Passion of O(ur) L(ord) J(esus) C(hrist) according to Matthew.
Those attending a performance of the St John Passion or St Matthew Passion, however, may well feel that what they are hearing is ‘the Passion according to Bach.’ As an interpreter of the Passion, Bach brings profound insights to a narrative we thought we knew, and through his music enables us to engage with it in new, often counter-intuitive, ways.
We will focus first on Bach’s St John Passion, the more concise and overtly dramatic of the two and, arguably, the more accessible to audiences today. Our attention will then turn to the St Matthew Passion, with its greater opportunities for reflection and personal application through extended use of solo accompanied recitatives and arias. This study day aims to corroborate Professor John Butt’s view that the results of listening to this music “for many listeners at least, seem to be utterly unexpected and transformative.”
