Three motets, a cantata and a Kyrie are on the menu as the Oxford Bach Soloists perform some of JS Bach’s most exciting and uplifting music
One of Bach’s rarer latin settings and a cry for Mercy sets the scene for the dissonant opening to Bach’s Cantata calling us to ‘Resist Sin’. Dating from Bach’s days as court composer at the Schlosskirche (court chapel) of Weimar this is one of the composer’s more unusual works for solo alto.
The first of the three motets which follow also comes from Bach’s time at Weimar and tells the story of Jacob’s wrestling with the Angel. The second and third motets bring praise and light to the concert with the third being noted for its delicate and lightly-scored instrumental accompaniment.
Take a look at our website too. Coming up, we have a double Easter treat with a performance of Bach’s St John Passion and his Easter Oratorio. Tickets are selling fast, so do snap yours up quickly!
A little further ahead, we will be heading to Stratford-upon-Avon on 29 April for Edward Thomas: A Centenary Celebration in Words and Music as part of the Stratford Literary Festival.
This will include a performance of a new work by composer Colin Riley: Roads Shining Like River Up Hill After Rain, which brings together fragments of Thomas’ collected poetry including lines found in his uniform pocket when he died 100 years ago in April 1917 on the Western Front.
You can also hear the Oxford Bach Soloists giving the premiere of this exciting new work in Oxford as part of the 15 April Easter Oratorio concert.
Don’t miss the next Oxford Bach Soloists concert with THE WAGES OF SIN at New College Chapel, Oxford on Sunday 19 March at 3.15pm.
