This past weekend a few of us went to join our old friend and colleague Martin Knizia in the Berlin suburb of Altglienicke, where he his Kantor of the Pfarrkirche. Martin had decided to put on a performance of one of his favourite pieces, Schütz’s Musicalische Exequien, as part of a service to mark Totensonntag (death Sunday, i.e. the conclusion of the church year, prior to Advent Sunday).

Martin directed the parish choir he has inherited in his new position, and we sang the ripieno/soloisten parts of the work, as well as the motet Selig sind die Toten, with other colleagues from the RIAS-Kammerchor. The performance and service was well-received and we look forward to the opportunity to return for similar collaborative events in future.

This is a special, unique week for those of us who perform music with close associations to the Lutheran Church. It’s the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the London Bach Society today and then the 40th anniversary of Peter Lea-Cox’s City Bach Cantata Series on Friday. It is also the 499th anniversary year of the Reformation, the unofficial start of celebrations commemorating the quincentennial of the Lutheran Church in October 2017.

With all this in mind I popped by arguably the most significant Lutheran chapel in London, St. George’s Lutheran Chapel in Alie St., Aldgate, to have a look around.

There’s more history of St. George’s (est. 1762-63) here. The chapel is still used for special events, including organ recitals on the first Thursday of every month on the historic Walcher organ (1886). Here’s a video that that church has put together as a guide.

You are invited to to a party.

To mark the 40^th anniversary of the first Bach cantata concert, the City Bach Collective will perform cantatas BWV 61 & 62 at a lunchtime concert this Friday, 11 November. The concert will be hosted by the associated concert series Music-at-Hill at the church of St. Mary-at-Hill where the series began with Peter Lea-Cox taking his RAM students through BWV 38 on 11 November 1976. Admission is free with a retiring collection. It is also a great opportunity for those who don’t usually make it into the City at weekends to hear the City Bach Collective perform.

Event: City Bach Cantata Series 40^th Anniversary Concert
Date: Friday 11 November 2016 at 1.05pm
Venue: St. Mary-at-Hill Church, Lovat Lane, London EC3R 8EE
Programme: J. S. Bach cantatas BWV 61 & 62, ‘Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland’
Performers: The City Bach Collective, leader-director Hazel Brooks

There’s a history of the series and stories from those who were involved at the beginning in a specially produced programme that you can pick up at the concert: you can also read the programme ahead of the concert online, below:

In a week’s time we perform at the first of three Bach Vespers services for St. Anne’s Lutheran Church on the way to Christmas. On Sunday 25 September at 6.30pm we will give cantata BWV 96, ‘Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn’. The Gospel text for the day recalls the episode in which Jesus is questioned by a lawyer about the law and counters by citing the first two commandments.

On 23 October at 6.30pm we will perform a colourful cantata for the final Reformation Sunday before next year’s Quincentennial. BWV 89, ‘Was soll ich aus dir machen, Ephraim?’ is a dramatic cantata coming straight from Matthew’s parable of the Unmerciful Servant, in which injustice, mercilessness and violence go hand in hand.

Then on 27 November again at 6.30pm we will perform one of the marvellously entertaining Advent cantatas, BWV 62, ‘Nun komm der Heiden Heiland’: ‘streite, siege, starker Held!’ babbles the bass, incontinent at the thought of imminent salvation.

We are able to perform these fine works of J.S. Bach’s through the generosity of Gibson Dunn in supporting St. Anne’s Bach Vespers series. If you want to know more about Bach Vespers with St. Anne’s Church, visit their web page here.

We are delighted to have secured the opportunity to present a concert celebrating what is, essentially, our 40th anniversary. The City Bach Collective is the latest incarnation of a constantly renewing group of musicians first convened by Peter Lea-Cox (above) to perform Bach cantatas in the City.

Click image to download EPK pdf

On the 11 November this year we will give a lunchtime concert at St. Mary-at-Hill church, which is where the concert series started in 1976, to mark the anniversary.

We will perform two upbeat Advent cantatas suitable for the time of year, BWVs 61 & 62, ‘Nun komm der Heiden Heiland’. The concert will form part of the Music at Hill lunchtime concert series, a series with its own close association with the Bach series and the concomitant Bach Vespers series.  Admission is free and there will be a modest reception after the concert. It is a great opportunity for those who don’t usually make it into the City at weekends to hear the City Bach Collective perform.

There will be more information nearer the time but you can keep up to date via this Facebook event page. The City Bach Collective are an occasional group. We appreciate your support. If you are interested in helping us to put on this concert, do get in touch (contributions are recorded in a commemorative programme, to be submitted to the British Library).