JS Bach
Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele (Praise the Lord, my soul), BWV 143
Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt (Just as the rain and snow fall from heaven), BWV 18
Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (The lively hunt is all my heart’s desire), BWV 208

Bach’s Cantata for New Year’s Day with hunting calls and timpani opens this concert on a pastoral theme, bringing together some unusual colours in Cantata 18 for four violas. The concert ends with the famous ‘Hunting Cantata’ featuring the favourite aria ‘Sheep may safely graze’.