When Bach took up the position as Kantor at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig in 1723, he could hardly have anticipated the indelible imprint his appointment would have upon the future of western classical music.
One of his main duties was to compose liturgical cantatas for every Sunday and feast day of the church year, and in his first four years alone he composed an astonishing 150 cantatas. 300 years on from that historic appointment, we look back at his first cantata cycle in Leipzig, and the rich creative environment that surrounded him as he made musical history.
Christoph Graupner Overture in E flat major, GWV 429
Georg Philipp Telemann Concerto for viola in G major, TWV 51:G9
Johann Sebastian Bach ‘Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt’, BWV 18
Johann Sebastian Bach ‘Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen?’, BWV 81
Georg Philipp Telemann Jauchzet dem Herrn alle Welt, TWV 7:20
Johann Sebastian Bach ‘Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister’, BWV 181
John Butt director
Julia Doyle soprano
Helen Charlston mezzo-soprano
Nicholas Mulroy tenor
Matthew Brook baritone
Pre-concert talk with John Butt, 6.30pm - free with your ticket.
This concert is part of the Dunedin Consort 2023/24 season which includes Songs of Wars I Have Seen, Matthew Passion, John Passion, Sean Shibe meets Dunedin Consort, Messiah, Leipzig 300, Čičić directs Vivaldi and the Scattered Rhymes Choral Tour. Book for four or more events and save 20%.
(BBC Music Magazine)"John Butt and the Dunedins approach the scores from a scholarly angle... but it’s the heart rather than the head that informs their music-making."
Leipzig 300 music by Bach & Telemann