C P E Bach’s Passion cantata Du Göttlicher (You Divine One), subtitled The Last Sufferings of the Saviour, is a work of major proportions and significance. It is an oratorio in all but name, lasting two hours without a break, as given last Saturday.

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (known as Emanuel), the great Johann Sebastian’s second surviving son, whose 300th birthday we celebrate this year, was Protestant (northern) Germany’s most important composer in the second half of the 18th century.

Du Göttlicher dates from 1770, when "storm and stress" (Sturm und Drang) was beginning to become a major feature of the arts in Germany. This new movement was a gift to Emanuel, a sociable man but with vehement opinions. The work is packed with operatic-style emotion, consistently bucking the staid Germanic stereotype.

Peter Seymour and his cohorts took to it like ducks to water. Leading the way were tenor James Gilchrist and bass Matthew Brook, both of whose arias moved seamlessly between quiet reflection and sudden, searing intensity. Gilchrist tends almost to dance with enthusiasm. Hardly more restrained, Brook is equally infectious.

Bethany Seymour’s steady soprano cavorted prettily with Catrin Woodruff’s in triplets with paired flutes and bassoons, a delightful highlight. Nancy Cole added graceful alto. The slim-line chorus made forceful use of its limited opportunities and the orchestra – low strings especially – was alert to every dramatic nuance. Emanuel may yet emerge from his father’s shadow.