The Mysteries: Music and Poetry

(Palm Sunday – Sunday 24th March 2024 at 7pm)

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The Mysteries: Music and Poetry

The poetry of Ruth Padel and cellist Adrian Bradbury playing some of Bach’s sublime Cello Suites lead us into Holy Week and Easter.

Ruth Padel’s fifteen new poems follow the shape of prayers in the Rosary. First five Joyful Mysteries, addressing Christ’s birth; then five Sorrowful Mysteries, following his Passion; and finally five Glorious Mysteries of Christ’s resurrection. But also the story of Mary, for the poems ask us to follow her experience in particular – as a girl surprised by an Angel into motherhood, grief, loss, and finally Resurrection. Tonight, these poems partner the music of Bach. Not music from his Passions but the more individual and intimate music of his Cello Suites, I and V, which are shrouded in mystery themselves, unknown for two hundred years after their composition. This evening is a hauntingly beautiful conversation or prayer between Bach, cello, and poet leading us on a spiritual journey from joy to tragedy and ending in jubilation.

Ruth Padel Poet
Adrian Bradbury Cellist