Hope everyone is having a lovely summer! Thanks to all our listeners and supporters over the last season!  We’ll be back for Bach Vespers in the autumn, so please put these dates in your diary and tell your friends:

25 September, BWV 17: ‘Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich’.

30 October (Reformation Sunday), BWV 80: ‘Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott’.

27 November (Advent Sunday), BWV 132: ‘Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn’.

As well as the cantatas, there will be lots of other scrumptious music for voices and instruments. All at the Church of St Mary-at-Hill in the City of London, 6.30pm.

See you there, and mind the sun meanwhile!

Come and join us for Bach Vespers on 31 July, at 6.30 pm, in the church of St Mary at Hill in the City of London. We will perform Bach’s cantata BWV 187, Es wartet alles auf dich. This superb cantata consists of two parts, which Bach intended to be performed either side of the sermon, and we will do the same. It is based on the Gospel story of the miracle of the feeding of the multitude, depicted here in an early seventeenth-century painting by Bernardo Strozzi. The music of this cantata is such high quality that Bach later re-used much of it in his famous Mass in G minor, BWV 235. There will also be lots of other music from baroque Germany, sung and performed on period instruments.

Everyone is welcome (you don’t have to be religious) and entrance is free, with a voluntary collection. We look forward to seeing you there, and sharing Bach’s wonderful music.

The following Bach Vespers will be in September. Watch this space (or sign up to our newsletter) for the exact date.

Come and join us for Bach Vespers on 26 June, at 6.30pm at the church of St Mary at Hill in the City of London. We will perform the cantata BWV 167, Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe. Bach wrote this fine cantata for the feast of St John the Baptist in 1723, and it is rarely performed today. It features a duet for soprano and alto with obbligato oboe da caccia. This is the first recorded use of the instrument, which had only recently been invented at the time. The oboe da caccia (pictured), with its curved leather-covered wooden body and flared brass bell, makes a unique and beautiful sound, which Bach exploits to poignant effect. The cantata finishes with an impressive choral fantasia setting. There will also be other vocal and instrumental music from Baroque Germany, performed on period instruments. Entrance is free, with a voluntary collection. Hope to see you there!

The following Bach Vespers will be on 31 July, with BWV 187.

Come and join us for our first Bach Vespers since Easter, on 22 May. The service starts at 6.30pm in the church of St Mary at Hill in the City of London, hosted by St Anne’s Lutheran Church. We will perform Bach’s Cantata BWV 37, ‘Wer da gläubet und getauft wird’. This delightful work celebrates the Feast of the Ascension, and was Bach’s earliest composition for this subject. There will also be other vocal and instrumental music from the German baroque, performed on period instruments. Everyone is welcome (you don’t need to be religious), and admission is free, with a voluntary collection. We look forward to seeing you there and sharing Bach’s wonderful music with you!

Following Bach Vespers: 26 June, with BWV 167.

On 9 May the City Bach Collective will be taking part in a memorial concert for our much missed friend and colleague Philip Yeeles (pictured), who passed away at Christmas. The event takes place in the atmospheric space and beautiful acoustic of St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington. Various groups and individual musicians who were closely associated with Philip will be performing, and we feel privileged to be taking part. Our contribution is J. S. Bach’s lovely Cantabile ma un poco adagio, BWV 120/ivR, which features oboe and strings, and J. C. Bach’s poignant ‘Mein Freund ist mein’, which sets a beautiful text from the Song of Songs over a chaconne bass. The event is invitation only for reasons of space (the venue will be packed), and guests are coming from all over the world to celebrate Philip’s memory.

Next Bach Vespers: 22 May at 6.30pm at St Mary at Hill, with BWV 37.