Simon Whalley has an impressive list of instrumental works, anthems and other settings for choirs to his credit, but his latest creation is a first for him — a full-scale setting of the Passion.

Christus: The Passion According to St Mark draws on the text from the St Mark Gospel, interspersed with poems by George Herbert, hymn tunes by Orlando Gibbons and texts from the books of Psalms and Proverbs.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Simon’s inspiration came largely from the Bach Passion settings.

“I used the same sort of Baroque model, with choruses, arias, recitative and so on, but using English rather than German,” he explained. “I used the George Herbert texts for the points of reflection, and used Orlando Gibbons’s hymn tunes and various 19th and 20th-0century poets to give the texts for the hymns.”

Simon has structured Christus along the same lines as Bach at the beginning and end, but other influences are noticeable throughout the piece.

“The recitatives are more lyrical, and there’s a setting of Hear My Prayer, which has a slightly more Purcellian feel. In a way the styles veer into more modern areas as we approach the Crucifixion.

“Also, whenever Christ speaks he has some continuo keyboard, but I’ve also got a solo cellist playing along with his lines. So it’s a bit like the halo of strings Bach gives him in the St Matthew Passion, but on a slightly smaller scale.”

Unusually — possibly even uniquely — Simon has set the part of the Evangelist for a female voice.

“It means that we’ve got much more distance in terms of the storytelling, because the voices are a different colour.

“Most of the characters in the story are male, so there’s more contrast throughout.”

The Evangelist is being sung by promising young undergraduate Roya Ziai, who is heading off to the Guildhall next year.

“She has a very strong voice and she’s a really sensitive singer,” Simon said. “So that’s pretty exciting for me.”

The role of Christ is being sung by Jonathan Arnold, a former member of the Tallis Scholars. Other roles, such as the High Priest, Peter and Pontius Pilate, will be taken by members of the choir.

A 15-piece orchestra — drawn partly from Oxiord University and partly from local professionals — will provide the accompaniment.

As the premiere approaches, Simon is understandably excited.

“What’s nice is that parts of this were performed last year as a trial run,” he says. “I was asked to write a couple of pieces for the Lent concerts at The Queen’s College, and I wrote a setting of George Herbert’s The Sacrifice, which included references to one of the chorales from Bach’s St John Passion, but it had great scurrying scales and lots of things going on around it as well.

“And it went down quite well, I think — people seemed to enjoy it.

“This year I’ve been able to bring it all together and add quite a lot of new material, so it’s very exciting indeed.”

Christus: The Passion According to St Mark is at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin on Saturday, March 19. Box office: 01865 305305 or oxfordplayhouse.com