Genealogy of a Genius
Bach family motets
Thursday 12 March 2020, 19:30 - 21:30
St Andrew Holborn [ map ]
5 St Andrew Street
London EC4A 3AF
Orlando Chamber Choir
Lucy Goddard, director
Paul Plummer, organ
Orlando Chamber Choir invites you to an evening of copious counterpoint by Johann Sebastian Bach, his ancestors and their descendants. We reel you into the repertoire with “the” Bach’s moving masterpiece Komm, Jesu, komm – but no sooner have you settled in your seat than we sing you off it with the double-choir jubilation of Das ist meine Freude by Bach’s third cousin Johann Ludwig. Further along the family tree we find Johann Michael, Bach’s father-in-law and uncle to his first wife. He intricately interweaves his motets' melodies to set hymns and psalm texts simultaneously, creating a contemplative discourse between heavenly and earthly voices. Johann Michael’s brother Johann Christoph contributes more intimately crafted compositions with madrigalian musicality and word-painting aplenty. We leave you with the hope and comfort of Bach’s Ich lasse dich nicht which, true to its title, once heard stays with you forever. Come and marvel at the masterful motets of this phenomenal family!
