Our next Bach Cantata performance will be on 22 February, when we present one of Bach’s most spellbinding masterpieces, BWV 150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich. This Bach Vespers service takes place at 6.30pm at the church of St Mary at Hill in the City of London, hosted by St Anne’s Lutheran Church.

BWV 150 is one of Bach’s earliest extant cantatas, probably composed in 1707, when he was employed in Arnstadt, at the church pictured. Unusually for a Bach cantata, the chorus features in the majority of movements, and there are no recitatives, although there is an exquisite soprano aria as well as a vocal trio. The exact time of year for which it was composed is unknown, but the text, with its mixture of penitence and hope, makes it ideal for Lent. The name of one of Bach’s supporters, in whose honour it may have been composed, is cleverly incorporated into in the text as an acrostic. The piece opens with an instrumental sinfonia and closes with a chaconne, the bass of which was poached by Brahms and appears in his Fourth Symphony.

There will also be lots of other music in the service, both vocal and instrumental, by Bach and other German baroque composers, performed on period instruments.

Everyone is welcome (you don’t have to be religious), and attendance is free. Do come along and bring your friends. We look forward to seeing you there to share Bach’s wonderful music!

Following Vespers event: 29 March (Schütz, Passion motets).

Come and join us on 25 January as we perform Bach’s splendid cantata, BWV 111, Was mein Gott will, das g’scheh allzeit. This Bach Vespers service takes place at 6.30pm at the church of St Mary at Hill in the City of London, hosted by St Anne’s Lutheran Church. There will also be lots of other music too, both vocal and instrumental, by Bach and other German baroque composers, performed on period instruments.

This service marks the tenth anniversary of the City Bach Collective. The group was formed specifically to perform cantatas in Bach Vespers, after former cantor Martin Knizia left. We performed our first service under the name City Bach Collective in January 2016.

Everyone is welcome (you don’t have to be religious), and attendance is free. Do come along and bring your friends. We look forward to seeing you there to share Bach’s wonderful music!

Following Bach Vespers: 22 February (BWV 150).

Wishing all our friends and followers a very happy Christmas!

Thanks to you all for your support and for being there to share Bach’s wonderful music.

We’ll be back in the new year, with Bach Vespers on 25 January, featuring the cantata BWV 111, Was mein Gott will, das g’scheh allzeit, at the Church of St Mary-at-Hill, at 6.30pm.

At 7.30pm on 12 December the American International Church in Tottenham Court Road, London, is the venue of a Christmas concert where our instrumentalists join Eclectic Voices and the choir of the American International Church under the baton of Scott Stroman (pictured). The programme includes Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit, which sets the words of the Latin mass to the melodies of French Christmas carols, Vivaldi’s Magnificat, a concerto for two flutes by Vivaldi, and much-loved carols.

Next Bach Vespers: 25 January (BWV 111)

Our next Bach Vespers performance is on Advent Sunday, 30 November, at 6.30pm at St Mary-at-Hill in the City of London, hosted by St Anne’s Lutheran Church. We perform Bach’s powerful Advent cantata from 1724, BWV 62, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland. 

Advent Sunday was significant in Bach’s Leipzig church as the final day before Christmas when music was permitted in services, in addition to marking both the approach of Christmas and the start of the new church year.

Bach’s masterpiece BWV 62 is rooted in history, being based on Martin Luther’s famous German hymn of the same name, itself derived from a Latin Advent hymn composed by Ambrose of Milan in the fourth century. This hymn tune underpins BWV 62’s splendid opening chorale fantasia, which joyfully anticipates the events of Christmas. A dancing tenor aria continues the same jubilant optimism. A particular high point is the fiery battle aria ‘Streite, siege, starker Held’, a virtuosic showpiece which will give our bass singer a thorough workout. The poignant prayer-like arioso for soprano and alto which follows forms an almost shocking contrast, before the cantata finishes with a majestic final chorale setting of Luther’s hymn.

The City Bach Collective last performed this mighty work nine years ago, in 2016, so we are hugely looking forward to revisiting it. In addition to the cantata, the service will include other music by Bach’s contemporaries performed by our specialist team of voices and period instruments.

Everyone is welcome, so do come along and bring a friend. You don’t need to be religious, you can just come to enjoy the music. Entrance is free (with a voluntary collection). We look forward to seeing you and sharing Bach’s wonderful music.