Michael White on a clandestine retelling of William Byrd’s 16th-century Mass settings and a Buddhist interpretation of Bach’s Passions.
We had reached the Agnus Dei when there was a pounding on the door. With frantic speed the candles were extinguished, we were told to crouch down, and we waited – holding our collective breath in darkness – as the pounding on the door resumed. The Mass was over.
It’s as well that liturgy, although theatrical by nature, isn’t always so dramatic, otherwise the risk of heart attack in church attendance would be worryingly high. But this is how it was last month at an event to mark four centuries since the death in 1623 of the composer William Byrd – with a performance of his five-part Mass staged as immersive theatre.
