Come and join us for our next Bach Vespers on 27 April at 6.30pm! It takes place at St Mary at Hill in the City of London, hosted by St Anne’s Lutheran Church. We’ll be performing Bach’s exhuberant cantata BWV 134, Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß, which was written for Easter. Bursting with joyful energy, this month’s cantata contrasts strikingly with the poignant introversion of Buxtehude’s Lenten music in March. Although premiered in 1724, Bach adapted BWV 134 from an earlier cantata dating from his time in Weimar, a secular piece celebrating the new year, and its glorious melodies and notably rich instrumental writing are typical of his Weimar compositions. It is unusual in that it opens with a recitative, closes with the type of chorus that we normally think of as an opening movement, and contains no chorale. The service will also include other music from the German Baroque 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.

Following Bach Vespers: 25 May (BWV 87)

Our next Vespers service will be on 30 March at 6.30pm. It takes place at St Mary at Hill in the City of London, hosted by St Anne’s Lutheran Church. Very little Lenten music by Bach survives, so this service features powerful music by Bach’s mentor, Dieterich Buxtehude (c. 1637-1707, pictured), including the cantata ‘Ad Cor’ from his cycle Membra Jesu Nostri, BuxWV 75, and the moving ‘Klaglied’ from BuxWV 76, accompanied by viols. The service will also include music by Schütz and Eccard. 

Come and hear Buxtehude’s music, which fascinated Bach and contributed so much to his style. Everyone is welcome. 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 this beautiful music.

Join us for our next Bach Vespers on 23 February at 6.30pm! It takes place at St Mary at Hill in the City of London, hosted by St Anne’s Lutheran Church. We’ll be performing Bach’s magnificent cantata BWV 92, Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn, which Bach premiered in 1725. This effusive and highly evocative piece centres on the theme of trust and acceptance in adversity in order to reach Heaven. It opens with a majestic chorale fantasia and contains no less than 2 dramatic storm arias, full of furious energy. The first, for tenor, graphically depicts God’s apocalyptic raging against Satan. In the other, the bass sings of how rushing winds produce stronger crops, a metaphor for adversity in life. The following soprano aria forms a sublime contrast. With its gentle pastoral melody over pizzicato strings, it describes God as a shepherd, protecting his flock. The service will include other music from the German Baroque 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.

Date for your diary: 30 March, Lenten Vespers featuring music by Buxtehude.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Come and join us for our first Bach Vespers of 2025, at 6.30pm on 26 January, at the church of St Mary-at-Hill in the City of London. We’ll be performing BWV 73, Herr, wie du willt so schick’s mit mir. This is one of Bach’s most original cantatas. Written in 1729 for the third Sunday after Epiphany, it presents the theme of faith, trust and calm acceptance in the face of death.

It opens with an emotionally turbulent chorus followed by a soothing tenor aria with beautiful oboe obbligato. The striking bass aria is based on a motif from Stölzel’s famous ‘Bist du bei mir’, which appears in Bach’s wife Anna Magdalena’s Notenbüchlein. This movement is full of word painting, including funeral bells depicted by pizzicato strings. The melody of the final chorale comes from a secular sixteenth-century French pop-song, ‘Une jeune fillette’. Combined here with Bach’s harmonies and more serious words, it provides a fittingly uplifting end to the cantata. The service will include other German baroque music, performed by our team of singers and period instrumentalists.

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: 23 February (BWV 92).

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 26 January, featuring the cantata BWV 73, Herr, wie du willt so schick’s mit mir, at the Church of St Mary-at-Hill, at 6.30pm.