Programme

Bach - Motets
J. S. Bach – Komm, Jesu, komm
J. C. Bach – Mit Weinen hebt sich’s an
J. S. Bach – Jesu, meine Freude
J. S. Bach – Fuerchte dich nicht
J. S. Bach – Ich lasse dich nicht
J. S. Bach – Singet dem Herrn

Bach - Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
J. S. Bach – Sonata in G minor for Solo Violin
J. S. Bach – Partita in E major for Solo Violin
J. S. Bach – Sonata in A minor for Solo Violin
J. S. Bach – Sonata in C major for Solo Violin

Bach’s motets have been part of the Monteverdi Choir’s repertoire for over five decades, giving the choir the opportunity to display technical virtuosity as well as a deep understanding of texts and, above all, a vivid conception of the drama behind Bach’s interpretation of religious words.

Many of the motets were composed for funerals, but the music’s variety and frequent exuberance belies this fact; we are constantly aware of Bach’s questing, imaginative mind in these explorations of man’s relationship to the divine.

All of Bach’s six authenticated motets were written between 1723 and 1727 for St Thomas’ Church, Leipzig, where Bach was appointed as director of music in 1723. Each of them is endlessly fascinating, and each inhabits its own sound world. Bach’s masterful use of canon, fugue and counterpoint, and the brilliant exploitation of double-choir sonorities, are perfectly matched by the Monteverdi Choir’s virtuosity.

These miraculous pieces will be interspersed with Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin performed by Kati Debretzeni (London), the leader of the English Baroque Soloists, and Isabelle Faust (Leipzig).