God So Loved World

God so loved the world by Roderick Williams is an anthem for SATB choir (with divisi), organ and Alto saxophone, using the same biblical text (John 3:16) which is famously used by John Stainer in his work The Crucifixion. Roderick Williams uses Stainer's anthem as the starting and end point for the choir, introducing and developing the Christus character portrayed by both Stainer and J.S. Bach in his Passions to powerful effect. It was commissioned by saxophonist Sam Corkin as part of the Palimpsest project at Canterbury Cathedral and was first performed at the Canterbury Festival in October 2022.