In the atmospheric surroundings of Oxford’s oldest building – the Church of St Michael at the North Gate – experience a liturgical performance of one of J.S. Bach’s four great Reformation Day cantatas.
500 years ago Martin Luther published his Ninety-five Theses which lit the touchpaper of the Protestant Reformation. His criticism of the Roman Catholic Church was propagated with astonishing speed thanks to the successful adoption of three strategies: translating, printing, and singing.
Martin Luther
The Protestant Reformation was a schism from the Roman Catholic Church which spread across northern Europe in the 16th century and lasted until the end of the Thirty Years’ War with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
JS Bach’s cantatas are a direct result of the establishment of the chorale as core medium of the Reformation message. This liturgical cantata performance is linked with Oxford Open Doors and is part of a whole series of Reformation 500 events in Oxford sponsored by the German Embassy.
Lutheran Vespers with JS Bach’s Cantata 129 ‘Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott’ (Praised be the Lord, my God) is part of a series of performances of all four Reformation Day cantatas. Be part of the Reformation 500 commemorations with this free liturgical performance of a joyful, celebratory work, in a building which has seen a thousand years of history…
Reformation 500: Lutheran Vespers
Sunday 10 September, 4pm
St Michael at the North Gate
This event is supported by German Embassy and TORCH.
