Entitled Sacred Music, the performance is presented in the run-up to Holy Week and is built around a trio of larger-scale works by three leading 16th century composers: Italian Carlo Gesualdo (Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday), the Franco-Flemish Dominique Phinot (Incipit oratio Jeremiae prophetae), and Thomas Tallis (Lamentations of Jeremiah) – widely regarded as one of England’s greatest composers.
Around these moving pieces are a series of shorter choral works dating from broadly the same period – Orlando Gibbons’ Drop, Drop Slow Tears, William Byrd’s Miserere Mei, Tomás Luis de Victoria’s O vos omnes and Tallis’ Salvator Mundi – alongside Baroque composer Antonio Lotti’s Crucifixus, his most famous work.
The choral masterpieces are accompanied by complementary readings by His Grace, the Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley.
Designed by celebrated Gothic Revival architect Augustus Welby Pugin, St Chad’s was the first English Catholic cathedral to be built for 300 years following the Reformation. Consecrated in 1841, the Grade II* listed, the cathedral is home to the relics of St Chad, which were originally interred in a shrine at Lichfield Cathedral in 672 AD.
Paul Spicer, Birmingham Bach Choir’s Musical Conductor, said: “This promises to be a truly moving evening.”
His Grace, the Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, added: “This concert of scared music is a wonderfully imaginative way to mark the season of Lent and as we reflect on the Passion of Christ.”
◼ Birmingham Bach Choir: Sacred Music is at St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham, on Saturday 14 March 2026. For more information, see: www.birmingham.bachchoir.com
LISTINGS
Saturday 14 March 2026
Birmingham Bach Choir: Sacred Music
Featuring works by Byrd, Gesualdo, Gibbons, Lotti, Phinot, Tallis and Victoria. With readings by Archbishop Bernard Longley.
St Chad’s Cathedral, St Chad’s Queensway, Birmingham B4 6EU
7pm
Tickets: £22; £18 conc; £12 Students (+ booking fees)
Details: birmingham.bachchoir.com
For all enquiries, please email: tickets@birmingham.bachchoir.com
Paul Spicer: conductor
Archbishop Bernard Longley: reader
Martyn Rawles: organist
Birmingham Bach Choir
Programme:
Gesualdo: Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday
Gibbons: Drop, Drop Slow Tears
Lotti: Crucifixus
Byrd: Miserere Mei
Victoria: O vos omnes
Phinot: Incipit oratio Jeremiae prophetae
Tallis: Lamentations of Jeremiah; Salvator Mundi
ABOUT BIRMINGHAM BACH CHOIR
As one of the UK’s leading large chamber choirs, Birmingham Bach Choir has been contributing to the musical life of the West Midlands since 1919, making it one of the longest established musical groups in the area. Although the main focus is the Baroque period (especially JS Bach), the choir performs music spanning 600 years, including 20th and 21st century works, and has premiered many new choral works.
2019 was the choir’s centenary, a year which saw them make a series of special appearances, including a Gala Concert at Lichfield Cathedral and a performance for Royalty. Meanwhile, the 2022-2023 Season marked Conductor Paul Spicer’s 30th anniversary with the choir and included the first West Midlands performance of Rachmaninoff’s Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in Liturgical Slavonic in living memory.
Social Media:
facebook.com/Birmingham-Bach-Choir-307760255351/
x.com/BirminghamBach
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS & ACTIVITIES
Saturday 4 July 2026
A Date With Shakespeare
Songs by George Shearing, Vaughan Williams, Herbert Murrill, and others
St Mary Magdalene, Bridgnorth, Shropshire
3.30pm
More details TBC.
Saturday 21 November 2026
Vaughan Williams: Mass in G & Parry: Songs of Farewell
St Francis, Bournville, Birmingham
More details TBC.
ABOUT ST. CHAD’S CATHEDRAL
For more information on St. Chad’s see: www.stchadscathedral.org.uk