Galway Cathedral is the venue this Saturday evening, March 25, for a performance of Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion from the Irish Baroque Orchestra (IBO). It will start at 7.30pm.

Conductor Peter Whelan will direct the IBO and the vocal ensemble Sestina Music, with the solo parts being performed by members of the choir and the role of the Evangelist taken on by tenor James Way. This concert of sacred music is being presented by Music for Galway as part of its Bach Season.

The renowned baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach wrote hundreds of sacred pieces while he was director of church music at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig from 1723 until his death in 1750. The St Matthew Passion, which was first performed there on April 11, 1727, is his most elaborate work, with big parts for four soloists.

Its story was drawn mostly from St Matthew’s Gospel but the pieces that Bach put to music were written by various contemporary poets.

This epic work was performed on several occasions during the composer’s lifetime but was then forgotten for nearly 80 years, until Felix Mendelssohn discovered it in the 1820s and performed an abbreviated version in Berlin in 1829.

Mendelssohn would later perform it in Leipzig, with much of the original score restored and it’s now an integral part of the sacred canon. For this Saturday, the advice from Music for Galway is to “bring a cushion and experience this exceptional work performed by outstanding cast”.

Tickets are available from Music for Galway’s website www.musicforgalway.ie or by phone on 091 705962 and cost €30/€27 and €12 for full-time students of all ages. There’s a concession rate of €25 for Music for Galway Friends. To learn more about becoming Friend, visit the website or phone the office.