LIVE worship, Handel’s Messiah, and a mirrored image on women of the Passion feature within the BBC’s programming for Holy Week and Easter, announced on Tuesday.
On Easter Day, morning worship shall be broadcast live from St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, on BBC1, and from Canterbury Cathedral on Radio 4. The Bishop of Dover, the Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, will preach.
Llandaff Cathedral is to be the venue by which the choirmaster Gareth Malone will conduct a performance of Handel’s Messiah by the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales. A recent series, Gareth Malone’s Messiah, will follow preparation for the fund-raising concert, which is in support of BBC Children in Need.
Three special episodes of Songs of Praise are scheduled on BBC1: Canon Kate Bottley presenting a mirrored image on women of the Easter story; Aled Jones presenting hymns for Easter Day from St George’s RC Cathedral, Southwark; and a celebration of gospel music introduced by Mark De-Lisser.
Also on BBC1, Urbi et Orbi is to be broadcast live from Rome.
Lent Talks on Radio 4 will explore the Nicene Creed, within the 12 months of the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea.
On Palm Sunday, Radio 3 can have a series of broadcasts from across Europe: Bach’s St John Passion from Helsinki; the Liturgy of Palm Sunday from Vatican City State’s Sala Assunta, marking the five hundredth anniversary of Palestrina; and Arvo Pärt’s Passio Brno, within the Czech Republic, followed by compline from St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield. On Good Friday, there shall be a broadcast of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, in a recent recording by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with soloists, under Sir Simon Rattle.
On Radio 2, on Good Friday, Canon Bottley will host a reflective two-hour programme about hope after loss “with beautiful music and provoking guests”. She may even present a special Easter Day edition of Good Morning Sunday.
Tim Pemberton, BBC Radio’s Head of Religion and Ethics, said: “At this special time of 12 months, BBC Radio seeks to bring people together to reflect on their faith, to listen to some amazing stories and to experience the uplifting power of extraordinary music.”
Other programming features a recent series of Pilgrimage on BBC2, by which seven personalities of differing faiths and beliefs make a 300km journey from Innsbruck on the Jakobsweg, the Austrian Camino, to Lake Zurich, in Switzerland.
Daisy Scalchi, BBC Television’s Head of Commissioning, Religion and Ethics, said: “This is the fifth annual Faith and Hope season and once more I’m incredibly excited by the range of programmes we’ve on offer this Spring. Whether audiences are religious or not, there may be content here that can move, encourage and delight.”
