Bachkirche, Arnstadt. Photo: Wolfgang Gülcker
J.S. Bach Mass in B minor
despite all the perfection of modern baroque performance, there can often be something missing - Solomon's Knot have perhaps found the answer The Guardian
progress, light and astonishing power The Times
a serious kick up the baroque backside 365 Bristol
Bach drew his monumental Mass in B minor together at the very end of his life, taking inspiration from other works he had written up to 35 years before. There was no obvious liturgical function for this 'great Catholic mass', as his son called it, and it is tempting to imagine that Bach wanted to bring together everything that he had learned and invented in the field of vocal music into one great memorial. It is composed in the most grandiose manner, with the chorus beginning the work in five and ending in eight parts, many extended examples of canons and fugues, and solo movements and duets in a great variety of styles, right up to the most modern. The instrumentation is also luxurious, calling for example for 3 trumpets and timpani, flutes, oboes, 2 bassoons, and a virtuoso part for the hunting horn.
Today the Mass in B minor is rarely performed in its intended original context, but rather in one of our modern 'churches', the concert hall. It speaks for the power of Bach's music that, although we may have no emotional connection to the text of the Mass whatsoever, the spiritual and musical message of Bach's composition is as strong today as it was 250 years ago. This is a piece that makes us marvel at the potential of the human mind and soul, and listening to it is an affirmation of the joy and beauty of life.
Project repertoire & personnel
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) ~ H-moll Messe BWV 232
4 sopranos ~ 2 altos ~ 2 tenors ~ 2 basses
4 violins ~ 2 violas ~ 1 'cello ~ 1 violone ~ 2 flutes ~ 2 oboes ~ 2 bassoons ~ 3 trumpets ~ timpani ~ horn ~ harpsichord/organ
Past performances
December 2016. Shoreditch Town Hall, London, UK (Spitalfields Music Winter Festival) The Guardian, The Times (£)
July 2017. Coronation Hall, Ulverston (Lake District Summer Music) Westmoreland Gazette
May 2018. St George's Bristol, UK 365 Bristol
May 2018. Holy Cross Church, Ramsbury, UK. Newbury Spring Festival
We are very grateful for the support of the RHL Foundation for our UK Mass in B minor performances in 2017.
progress, light and astonishing power The Times
a serious kick up the baroque backside 365 Bristol
Bach drew his monumental Mass in B minor together at the very end of his life, taking inspiration from other works he had written up to 35 years before. There was no obvious liturgical function for this 'great Catholic mass', as his son called it, and it is tempting to imagine that Bach wanted to bring together everything that he had learned and invented in the field of vocal music into one great memorial. It is composed in the most grandiose manner, with the chorus beginning the work in five and ending in eight parts, many extended examples of canons and fugues, and solo movements and duets in a great variety of styles, right up to the most modern. The instrumentation is also luxurious, calling for example for 3 trumpets and timpani, flutes, oboes, 2 bassoons, and a virtuoso part for the hunting horn.
Today the Mass in B minor is rarely performed in its intended original context, but rather in one of our modern 'churches', the concert hall. It speaks for the power of Bach's music that, although we may have no emotional connection to the text of the Mass whatsoever, the spiritual and musical message of Bach's composition is as strong today as it was 250 years ago. This is a piece that makes us marvel at the potential of the human mind and soul, and listening to it is an affirmation of the joy and beauty of life.
Project repertoire & personnel
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) ~ H-moll Messe BWV 232
4 sopranos ~ 2 altos ~ 2 tenors ~ 2 basses
4 violins ~ 2 violas ~ 1 'cello ~ 1 violone ~ 2 flutes ~ 2 oboes ~ 2 bassoons ~ 3 trumpets ~ timpani ~ horn ~ harpsichord/organ
Past performances
December 2016. Shoreditch Town Hall, London, UK (Spitalfields Music Winter Festival) The Guardian, The Times (£)
July 2017. Coronation Hall, Ulverston (Lake District Summer Music) Westmoreland Gazette
May 2018. St George's Bristol, UK 365 Bristol
May 2018. Holy Cross Church, Ramsbury, UK. Newbury Spring Festival
We are very grateful for the support of the RHL Foundation for our UK Mass in B minor performances in 2017.
J.S. Bach Johannes-Passion
"a most intimate and gripping rendering of the Passion, delivered straight from the heart" ★★★★ Geoff Brown, The Times (2019)
dramatic and thrilling - Libby Purves, The Times (2017)
refreshing and virtuosic - Thüringer Allgemeine (2017)
Bach's Passions stand apart even from his other German church music, mainly because of the role of the Evangelist. Here we have a storyteller taking us through every step of the action leading to Jesus' crucifixion, reciting the words of the Gospel (not exclusively, interestingly, that of St John). The St Passion, in contrast to the St Matthew Passion, is no 'Passion of the Christ' - John's wasn't interested in the physical suffering and pain of Jesus, but in the fact that he was the true incarnation of the loving God on earth, and that those who recognise that will be redeemed. Jesus knows what's going to happen from the start, and it doesn't bother him - it's all part of the plan.
In order to tell this story as vividly as possible, the eight singers of Solomon's Knot share all of the vocal material, even distributing the evangelist part between the two tenors, and sing from memory. Performing vocal music is part of an ongoing ritual and tradition of storytelling, of passing messages between us. The Passion story has been re-told for over 2,000 years, and is a trope that has helped countless people find meaning in their lives. Through Bach's music, the events it describes become as vivid as if they had happened yesterday, and the emotions they inspire can touch all of us most profoundly, whatever our beliefs.
Project repertoire & personnel
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) ~ Johannes-Passion BWV 245
2 sopranos ~ 2 altos ~ 2 tenors ~ 2 basses
4 violins ~ 2 violas ~ 1 'cello/viola da gamba ~ 1 violone ~ 2 flutes ~ 2 oboes ~ 1 bassoon ~ harpsichord/organ
Performances
April 2017. Bachkirche, Arnstadt (Thüringer Bachwochen) Thüringer Allgemeine review
April 2017. Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk, UK (Aldeburgh Music Easter Weekend)
September 2017. Stadtkirche Thun (Bachwochen Thun). 1-to-a-part performance in collaboration with Les Passions de l'Ame
March 2018. Französische Kirche, Bern. 1-to-a-part performance in collaboration with Les Passions de l'Ame
March 2018. Eglise St-François, Lausanne (Pâques en Musique). 1-to-a-part performance in collaboration with Les Passions de l'Ame
April 2019: Wigmore Hall, London
June 2019: Nikolaikirche, Bachfest Leipzig
dramatic and thrilling - Libby Purves, The Times (2017)
refreshing and virtuosic - Thüringer Allgemeine (2017)
Bach's Passions stand apart even from his other German church music, mainly because of the role of the Evangelist. Here we have a storyteller taking us through every step of the action leading to Jesus' crucifixion, reciting the words of the Gospel (not exclusively, interestingly, that of St John). The St Passion, in contrast to the St Matthew Passion, is no 'Passion of the Christ' - John's wasn't interested in the physical suffering and pain of Jesus, but in the fact that he was the true incarnation of the loving God on earth, and that those who recognise that will be redeemed. Jesus knows what's going to happen from the start, and it doesn't bother him - it's all part of the plan.
In order to tell this story as vividly as possible, the eight singers of Solomon's Knot share all of the vocal material, even distributing the evangelist part between the two tenors, and sing from memory. Performing vocal music is part of an ongoing ritual and tradition of storytelling, of passing messages between us. The Passion story has been re-told for over 2,000 years, and is a trope that has helped countless people find meaning in their lives. Through Bach's music, the events it describes become as vivid as if they had happened yesterday, and the emotions they inspire can touch all of us most profoundly, whatever our beliefs.
Project repertoire & personnel
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) ~ Johannes-Passion BWV 245
2 sopranos ~ 2 altos ~ 2 tenors ~ 2 basses
4 violins ~ 2 violas ~ 1 'cello/viola da gamba ~ 1 violone ~ 2 flutes ~ 2 oboes ~ 1 bassoon ~ harpsichord/organ
Performances
April 2017. Bachkirche, Arnstadt (Thüringer Bachwochen) Thüringer Allgemeine review
April 2017. Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk, UK (Aldeburgh Music Easter Weekend)
September 2017. Stadtkirche Thun (Bachwochen Thun). 1-to-a-part performance in collaboration with Les Passions de l'Ame
March 2018. Französische Kirche, Bern. 1-to-a-part performance in collaboration with Les Passions de l'Ame
March 2018. Eglise St-François, Lausanne (Pâques en Musique). 1-to-a-part performance in collaboration with Les Passions de l'Ame
April 2019: Wigmore Hall, London
June 2019: Nikolaikirche, Bachfest Leipzig
J.S. Bach Weihnachts-Oratorium
Wonderful concert last night. Completely blew my socks off. Audience member
It makes such a difference to the performance you being relieved of the burden of physical scores - really lively and refreshing stuff. Audience member
I think it's GREAT to do this kind of music without a conductor, or a score for the choir. Don't stop! It's a fantastic way of getting all the musicians to take responsibility for what they're doing and understand better how we fit into the whole. I think this was also one of the ways in which it won the audience over too. Performer
Project overview
Extrapolating the chamber concept into our first attempt at the intimidating music of Johann Sebastian Bach, we present four of the cantatas from his Weihnachts-Oratorium with 2-to-a-part forces, with explosive results. There should be video evidence soon!
Project repertoire & personnel
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1759) Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248 cantatas I, III, V, VI
2 sopranos ~ 2 altos ~ 2 tenors ~ 2 basses (all singers taking the solo parts as well as chorus)
4 violins ~ 2 violas ~ 2 celli ~ double bass ~ 2 flutes ~ 2 oboes/d'amore ~ 1 bassoon ~ 3 trumpets ~ timpani ~ harpsichord/chamber organ (1 player)
Performances
December 2013. St John's Smith Square, London
December 2013. Trinity College, Cambridge
December 2015. Spitalfields Music Winter Festival The Guardian
It makes such a difference to the performance you being relieved of the burden of physical scores - really lively and refreshing stuff. Audience member
I think it's GREAT to do this kind of music without a conductor, or a score for the choir. Don't stop! It's a fantastic way of getting all the musicians to take responsibility for what they're doing and understand better how we fit into the whole. I think this was also one of the ways in which it won the audience over too. Performer
Project overview
Extrapolating the chamber concept into our first attempt at the intimidating music of Johann Sebastian Bach, we present four of the cantatas from his Weihnachts-Oratorium with 2-to-a-part forces, with explosive results. There should be video evidence soon!
Project repertoire & personnel
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1759) Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248 cantatas I, III, V, VI
2 sopranos ~ 2 altos ~ 2 tenors ~ 2 basses (all singers taking the solo parts as well as chorus)
4 violins ~ 2 violas ~ 2 celli ~ double bass ~ 2 flutes ~ 2 oboes/d'amore ~ 1 bassoon ~ 3 trumpets ~ timpani ~ harpsichord/chamber organ (1 player)
Performances
December 2013. St John's Smith Square, London
December 2013. Trinity College, Cambridge
December 2015. Spitalfields Music Winter Festival The Guardian
JS Bach - Not the Christmas Oratorio
Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten! BWV 214
Lasst uns sorgen, lasst uns wachen (Herkules auf dem Scheidewege) BWV 213
Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen BWV 215
“Jauchzet, frohlocket!” These words and the opening timpani ‘fanfare’ form the unmistakeable opening of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, for many in German-speaking countries the musical definition of Christmas, equivalent to Handel’s Messiah in Britain. But this iconic music was in fact first composed for a worldly occasion, the birthday of the Queen of Poland, a year before the Christmas Oratorio was put together, in 1733.
The rather prosaic original text, “Tönet ihr Pauken, erschallet Trompeten” (Resound ye drums, ring out ye trumpets), explains the idiosyncratic musical opening, and is the beginning of a fascinating discovery of the original context of music we think we know so well. Secular music reused to accompany the story of the nativity? One might wonder how such ‘upcycling’ could possibly work, until one realises that music originally intended for royal birthdays and coronations was simply being reapplied to celebrate the birth of another king, one whose birthday, and the music now associated with it, would continue to be celebrated for decades and centuries to come.
Friday 10 September 2021 London
Wednesday 15 September 2021 Thüringer Bachwochen
Friday 17 September 2021 Newbury Spring Festival
Saturday 9 October 2021 Regensburg
Lasst uns sorgen, lasst uns wachen (Herkules auf dem Scheidewege) BWV 213
Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen BWV 215
“Jauchzet, frohlocket!” These words and the opening timpani ‘fanfare’ form the unmistakeable opening of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, for many in German-speaking countries the musical definition of Christmas, equivalent to Handel’s Messiah in Britain. But this iconic music was in fact first composed for a worldly occasion, the birthday of the Queen of Poland, a year before the Christmas Oratorio was put together, in 1733.
The rather prosaic original text, “Tönet ihr Pauken, erschallet Trompeten” (Resound ye drums, ring out ye trumpets), explains the idiosyncratic musical opening, and is the beginning of a fascinating discovery of the original context of music we think we know so well. Secular music reused to accompany the story of the nativity? One might wonder how such ‘upcycling’ could possibly work, until one realises that music originally intended for royal birthdays and coronations was simply being reapplied to celebrate the birth of another king, one whose birthday, and the music now associated with it, would continue to be celebrated for decades and centuries to come.
Friday 10 September 2021 London
Wednesday 15 September 2021 Thüringer Bachwochen
Friday 17 September 2021 Newbury Spring Festival
Saturday 9 October 2021 Regensburg