Saturday 14 November 2026
If your December plans are looking a little heavy on the Christmas carols, here’s something more unexpected. On Sunday 13 December, LSO St Luke’s in London hosts the premiere of Pierrepoint: In the Balance, a new semi-staged dramatic oratorio by composer Paul Honey about Albert Pierrepoint, Britain’s most prolific executioner. The National Symphony Orchestra also performs Fauré’s Requiem, and the evening opens with a pre-concert discussion led by historian David Olusoga. Here’s what you need to know.
1. The human story of Britain’s most prolific executioner
Pierrepoint: In the Balance examines the life and changing convictions of Albert Pierrepoint, who ultimately came to question the effectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent. The son and nephew of executioners, Pierrepoint had long regarded his work as both a vocation and a destiny. The libretto by Gregory Warren Wilson explores the conflict between this inherited sense of purpose and his growing doubts. The oratorio imagines Pierrepoint preparing to carry out his duty while confronting his own beliefs and the moral implications of his profession, making for a compelling and thought-provoking new piece of music theatre.
2. It centres on the eve of Ruth Ellis’s execution
The work is set on the evening before the execution of Ruth Ellis, who was executed in 1955 and was the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Ellis was born 100 years ago this year, and her case remains a significant part of the history of capital punishment in the UK. The 37-minute oratorio also incorporates choral settings of extracts from John Donne’s Meditation XVII, including the words famously known as ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’, and William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence. It is paired in the same concert with Gabriel Fauré’s much-loved Requiem, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra.
3. A powerful pre-concert discussion
At 6.30pm, an hour before the performance, historian David Olusoga leads a pre-concert discussion exploring the themes behind the work. He is joined by Laura Enston, the granddaughter of Ruth Ellis, who successfully campaigned for her grandmother’s posthumous pardon. Completing the panel is Kerry Moscogiuri, CEO of Amnesty International. With a fascinating historical subject and voices so closely connected to it, the talk promises to add real depth to the evening. It’s well worth arriving early to hear it before settling in for the music, which begins at 7.30pm.
4. A strong line-up of performers
Written for four vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, the oratorio features baritone Johnny Herford in the role of Albert Pierrepoint. Herford was chosen by Philip Glass in 2014 to create the role of Josef K in his opera The Trial, and has sung for ENO, Scottish Opera and Opera North. He is joined by mezzo-soprano Myrna Tennant, tenor Ed Woodhouse and countertenor Will Prior, along with The Locrian Singers and the National Symphony Orchestra. They are conducted by Jonathan Darbourne, a former chorister of Southwark Cathedral who co-founded Vache Baroque in 2020.
5. The creative team and the venue
Composer Paul Honey began his musical career as a chorister at Westminster Abbey, and in 2023 was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award and a Music and Sound Award for his score for the documentary The People’s Piazza: A History of Covent Garden. His collaborator Gregory Warren Wilson, a former violinist with the Razumovsky String Quartet and the London Mozart Players, has published six collections of poetry. Their 2025 album Between Midnight and Sunrise has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The venue, LSO St Luke’s, is a restored Grade I-listed church that serves as a performance and creative space for the London Symphony Orchestra.
Tickets and info
Pierrepoint: In the Balance and Fauré’s Requiem
Sunday 13 December 2026
Pre-concert discussion: 6.30pm
Performance: 7.30pm
LSO St Luke’s, 161 Old Street, London EC1V 9NG
Tickets from £20