We were very pleased to see a large and appreciative congregation for last Sunday’s Bach Vespers (in conjunction with St. Anne’s Lutheran Church, at the church of St. Mary-at-hill). It was a slightly hair-raising occasion: the popular church building was busy with a concert earlier in the afternoon so we found ourselves rehearsing across the road in St. Margaret Pattens, using an electronic keyboard programmed to the temperament of the chamber organ we used later! Whatever the circumstances, we were happy to be performing fine music (from Bach’s first year of tenure in Leipzig, just before he wrote the St. John Passion) together. You can find more details of the service, including the order of service on the Archive page.

It was mentioned in the announcements at Vespers that some of the Collective will go to Berlin next month to perform in a Bach Vesper(s) auf Deutsch with the previous Cantor of St. Anne’s Lutheran Church, Martin Knizia. Emily Atkinson joins an international line-up of performers including Capella Vitalis Berlin, familiar from past summer Bach Festivals, to perform cantatas BWV 93 & 82, should you find yourself in Berlin on 6 March.

We are very pleased to be offering the music for the first St. Anne’s Lutheran Church Bach Vespers of 2016. St. Anne’s Lutheran Church is resident at St. Mary-at-hill, an idiosyncratic, portmanteau building of various architectural input, most notably the clean, lofty interior of Sir Christopher Wren. It is a very popular venue for musicians, with a wonderful William Hill organ (1848), space and seating for over two hundred and modern facilities.

It also is a lovely, open acoustic and, importantly an appropriate place for the Lutheran congregation of St. Anne’s Church to use for worship. Most important to the musical-liturgical association of the Lutheran tradition is the music of J.S. Bach. We are looking forward to continuing a tradition started in this same church in 1982 of performing Bach’s music within the liturgy.

On this occasion, the fourth Sunday after Epiphany, we will perform the Cantata BWV 81, Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen?, as well as a movement from another cantata appropriate for the time of year, the famous BWV 82 (in fact 82a, no. 3, Schlummert ein), in an unusual arrangement for soprano.

There will be other music by Bach and his contemporaries during the service, which lasts just over an hour. Admission to Bach Vespers is free (you are invited to make a donation at the collection) – and you would be welcome. If you want to know more about the City Bach Collective, then do sign up to our newsletter using the box to the right.

The City Bach Collective website is launched this month. The Collective is a group of musicians who continue to enjoy playing Bach (and other Baroque music) together in the City of London.

Providing music for places of worship and events in the City has always been an ad hoc business. For all that music is important, freelance musicians can often feel like an ephemeral part of the venerable institutions in which and for which they perform, even after many years of regular commitment. There is a tremendous history of performing music in the City that all musicians feel connected to and proud of. It is worth recording, celebrating and sharing.

The City Bach Collective is one particular, prominent seam of this musical tapestry, connected to the programming of Bach cantatas in concert for student performers in 1976. Please read more about this history on the About page.