The St Mark Passion – the most intimate of J.S. Bach’s three Passion settings – was first performed in 1731, a few years after his monumental St Matthew Passion. But shortly after the composer’s death, the manuscript score went missing and the search for the original music has occupied musicians and scholars ever since its loss was first noticed in 1850.

Though discovery of the original Markus-Passion continues to elude us, there are enough clues – in the unique instrumentation, in the text and in the practice of Baroque composers of repurposing their existing music – for a full reconstruction of the long-lost score.

This new edition by Malcolm Bruno of Bach’s “pocket passion” is dramatically presented by writer and director Bill Barclay in this theatrical production. It offers a unique role for an actor speaking the role of Evangelist (in English), alongside four singers and single strings, creating the intimacy of chamber music.

Following the world premiere in New York in April 2025, Bill Barclay and acclaimed actor Joseph Marcell (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Shakespeare’s Globe, Royal Shakespeare Company and The National Theatre) are joined for the UK premiere at the Aldeburgh Festival by renowned conductor and scholar John Butt and the Dunedin Consort .