Cantatas: Time and eternity

PROGRAMME

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Unser Mund sei voll Lachens Cantate BWV 110 

Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703)
Mit weinen hebt sich's an

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Es ist nichts Gesundes an meinem Leibe Cantate BWV 25 

Entracte

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen Cantate BWV 66/1 
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott Cantate BWV 80 
Sanctus BWV 232

This may be the most accomplished masterpiece of baroque sacred music, an intoxicating work of choral beauty overflowing with dazzling arias. The story behind this famous Mass in B Minor is fascinating. It was finished by Bach in Leipzig in around 1748, two years before the death of its author, by bringing together his Missa Brevis of 1733 (aKyrie and a Gloria dedicated to the Elector of Saxony, for the dazzling Court of Dresden – catholic) with various pieces that had already been written, namely the Sanctus dated Christmas 1724, as well as new compositions to create what his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, called the Great Catholic Mass. In some ways it is a theoretical work, the destination of which was not dictated by a precise representational intention: As such, Bach had made his great work, a sacred musical peak after fifty years dedicated to cantatas and passions.

The full work, which was only published in 1833, though never performed live in Bach’s lifetime, became a symbol of masterful composition in the 19th century, before the baroque revival made it an essential work of German baroque and universal music, on a level with his St Matthew Passion.

In Bach's œuvre, the pomp of this great "Latin" mass contrasts with the protestant passions. After the insistent pain of the Crucifixus where every voice mourns Christ, comes the exhilaration of the Resurrexit using every brass instrument and timpani, carried away by the clamour of rejoicing of the faithful. Bach’s musical testament is now one of his most frequently performed works; here, the Pygmalion Ensemble led by Raphaël Pichon takes its turn with force and passion!