Bach celebrated the first Sunday in Advent with the joyful cantata BWV 36, Schwingt freudig euch empor.  Come and join us for a performance of this sublime work on 28 November at 6.30pm at the church of St Mary at Hill in the City of London, hosted by St Anne’s Lutheran Church. A real ‘feel-good’ piece, this cantata is perfectly designed to get everyone in good spirits for the run-up to Christmas. It is an unusual work because the arias are interspersed with chorales instead of recitatives. As it is in two parts, we will perform it, as in Bach’s day, with the sermon placed between the two sections. The arias are beautiful, a particularly poignant one being the soprano solo ‘Auch mit gedämpften, schwachen Stimmen’ appropriately scored with muted violin, to be sung by our soprano extraordinaire, Emily Atkinson. Our team of singers and instrumentalists will also present other music, appropriate to the occasion, by German baroque composers.

Come and enjoy it, and bring your friends along. Everyone is welcome (you don’t have to be religious), and attendance is free. We look forward to seeing you and sharing Bach’s wonderful music!

The following cantata event will be on 26 December (BWV 40 at the American International Church in Tottenham Court Road, 11am, directed by Scott Stroman).

Come and join us on 31 October as we perform Bach’s splendid and much-loved cantata for Reformation Sunday, BWV 80, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. This special Bach Vespers service for Reformation Sunday 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. This cantata features a team of three oboes of different sizes and bassoon, playing with and in contrast to the strings to create fabulous textural colours. There will also be lots of other festive music for the occasion, including the concerto-like Sinfonia to BWV 42. For those who enjoy singing, we are delighted that hymn singing is now permitted again.

The preacher will be the Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Great Britain, the Right Reverend Tor Berger Jørgensen. 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 to share Bach’s wonderful music!

The following Bach Vespers will be on 28 November (BWV 36 for Advent Sunday).

Come and join us at the church of St Mary at Hill in the City of London on 26 September, for the first Bach Vespers of the Autumn. The service starts at 6.30pm, hosted by St Anne’s Lutheran Church.

The service centres around Bach’s Cantata BWV 47, Wer sich selbst erhöhet, der soll erniedriget werden. This moving cantata was first performed in Leipzig in 1726. It includes a poignant and unusual aria for soprano with organ obbligato, which will feature soprano Emily Atkinson and organist Simon Lloyd. Our singers and period instrument players will also perform other German music from the time.

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

Future Bach Vespers dates this autumn: 31 October (BWV 80 for Reformation Sunday), and 28 November (BWV 36 for Advent Sunday).

We are delighted to be performing in another Bach Vespers service for St Anne’s Lutheran Church, at St Mary at Hill in the City of London, on 25 July. We will perform Bach’s impressive and unusual cantata BWV 178, Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, along with other German baroque music on period instruments, in a service of Lutheran Vespers. Everyone is welcome and attendance is free.

This event is part of the 25th annual Bach Festival organised by Music-at-Hill. Read more about other concerts in the festival here.