Bath Camerata: Good Friday Concert

For many - performers and audience alike - Bath Camerata’s annual Good Friday concert in Wells Cathedral is the highlight of their musical calendar. And for several reasons. Firstly the building is magnificent – who cannot be impressed by this golden beauty sat in the heart of the Somerset Levels, with its impressive, intricate West End carvings and 14th Century bracing at the Crossing. Secondly the acoustic is clear and supportive, making singing in it an absolute joy. But also because this concert is part of the Cathedral’s devotional weekend for Easter. It is free to attend, with a retiring collection given to the Cathedral to support its musical activities. Bath Camerata is very proud to have raised over £40,000 of donations for the Cathedral Music Fund over the three decades of its Good Friday concerts.

For this year’s Good Friday concert Bath Camerata, conducted by Benjamin Goodson, will be singing Herbert Howells intensely personal Requiem, a work perfect for this most poignant day in the Christian calendar. Alongside this will be Schönberg’s virtuosic masterpiece Friede auf Erden (Peace on Earth), Henry Purcell’s funeral sentence ‘Hear my prayer, O Lord’ and four beautiful motets by Maurice Duruflé. Plus there will be music by Brahms and Nystedt.