Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben” BWV 147
Caroline Shaw, creation (world premiere)

Awarded the Pulitzer Prize and multiple Grammys: Caroline Shaw is among the most successful composers of the younger generation on the international scene. However, she doesn’t label herself as such; rather, she sees herself simply as a musician who, both interpretively and in writing, doesn’t let genre boundaries confine her.

During the Thuringia Bach Festival, Caroline Shaw embarks on the daring task of being creative on-demand: Within a week, she will compose a new cantata and bring it to its premiere.

‘Kommt, eilet und laufet’, because Vox Luminis are celebrating their 20th anniversary with Bach’s festive Easter Oratorio from 1725. As befits a real spiritual drama, four Biblical characters each highlight an aspect of Jesus’s miraculous Resurrection in some of Bach’s most beautiful arias. The festivities continue with Jan Dismas Zelenka’s Easter Mass, written in 1726 for the magnificent Catholic court of Dresden. Happy (re)birthday!

Coproduction: Perpodium
Supported by the Tax shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest.

‘Kommt, eilet und laufet’, because Vox Luminis are celebrating their 20th anniversary with Bach’s festive Easter Oratorio from 1725. As befits a real spiritual drama, four Biblical characters each highlight an aspect of Jesus’s miraculous Resurrection in some of Bach’s most beautiful arias. The festivities continue with Jan Dismas Zelenka’s Easter Mass, written in 1726 for the magnificent Catholic court of Dresden. Happy (re)birthday!

Coproduction: Perpodium
Supported by the Tax shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest.

‘Kommt, eilet und laufet’, because Vox Luminis are celebrating their 20th anniversary with Bach’s festive Easter Oratorio from 1725. As befits a real spiritual drama, four Biblical characters each highlight an aspect of Jesus’s miraculous Resurrection in some of Bach’s most beautiful arias. The festivities continue with Jan Dismas Zelenka’s Easter Mass, written in 1726 for the magnificent Catholic court of Dresden. Happy (re)birthday!

Coproduction: Perpodium
Supported by the Tax shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest.

‘Kommt, eilet und laufet’, because this Easter Sunday resident artists Vox Luminis are celebrating their 20th anniversary with Bach’s festive Easter Oratorio from 1725. As befits a real spiritual drama, four Biblical characters each highlight an aspect of Jesus’s miraculous Resurrection in some of Bach’s most beautiful arias. The festivities continue with Jan Dismas Zelenka’s Easter Mass, written in 1726 for the magnificent Catholic court of Dresden. Happy (re)birthday!

Johann Sebastiani – Matthaüs Passion
Agostino Steffani – Stabat Mater

German composer Johann Sebastiani’s (1622-1683) interpretation of the Matthew’s Passion is three times shorter than Bach’s masterpiece and precedes it by about half a century. By the 17th century, settings of the Passion narrative had become the speciality of the Lutheran church. Sebastiani is said to have been the first to incorporate Lutheran chorales into the score, providing the solo voices with an accompaniment of strings and continuo. His score alternates recitatives for the evangelist and the words of Christ with hymns and chorales provided by the other singers. The work has a subtle alternation of the different movements thanks to a deliberately chosen instrumentation – only two violins accompany the words of Christ, while the chorales of the soprano solo are accompanied only by the four violas. Agostino Steffani’s Stabat Mater from 1728 completes this beautiful Passion concerto.

Coproduction: Perpodium
Supported by the Tax shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest.

Johann Sebastiani – Matthaüs Passion
Agostino Steffani – Stabat Mater

German composer Johann Sebastiani’s (1622-1683) interpretation of the Matthew’s Passion is three times shorter than Bach’s masterpiece and precedes it by about half a century. By the 17th century, settings of the Passion narrative had become the speciality of the Lutheran church. Sebastiani is said to have been the first to incorporate Lutheran chorales into the score, providing the solo voices with an accompaniment of strings and continuo. His score alternates recitatives for the evangelist and the words of Christ with hymns and chorales provided by the other singers. The work has a subtle alternation of the different movements thanks to a deliberately chosen instrumentation – only two violins accompany the words of Christ, while the chorales of the soprano solo are accompanied only by the four violas. Agostino Steffani’s Stabat Mater from 1728 completes this beautiful Passion concerto.

Coproduction: Perpodium
Supported by the Tax shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest.

Johann Sebastiani – Matthaüs Passion
Agostino Steffani – Stabat Mater

German composer Johann Sebastiani’s (1622-1683) interpretation of the Matthew’s Passion is three times shorter than Bach’s masterpiece and precedes it by about half a century. By the 17th century, settings of the Passion narrative had become the speciality of the Lutheran church. Sebastiani is said to have been the first to incorporate Lutheran chorales into the score, providing the solo voices with an accompaniment of strings and continuo. His score alternates recitatives for the evangelist and the words of Christ with hymns and chorales provided by the other singers. The work has a subtle alternation of the different movements thanks to a deliberately chosen instrumentation – only two violins accompany the words of Christ, while the chorales of the soprano solo are accompanied only by the four violas. Agostino Steffani’s Stabat Mater from 1728 completes this beautiful Passion concerto.

Coproduction: Perpodium
Supported by the Tax shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest.

Johann Sebastiani – Matthaüs Passion
Agostino Steffani – Stabat Mater

German composer Johann Sebastiani’s (1622-1683) interpretation of the Matthew’s Passion is three times shorter than Bach’s masterpiece and precedes it by about half a century. By the 17th century, settings of the Passion narrative had become the speciality of the Lutheran church. Sebastiani is said to have been the first to incorporate Lutheran chorales into the score, providing the solo voices with an accompaniment of strings and continuo. His score alternates recitatives for the evangelist and the words of Christ with hymns and chorales provided by the other singers. The work has a subtle alternation of the different movements thanks to a deliberately chosen instrumentation – only two violins accompany the words of Christ, while the chorales of the soprano solo are accompanied only by the four violas. Agostino Steffani’s Stabat Mater from 1728 completes this beautiful Passion concerto.

Coproduction: Perpodium
Supported by the Tax shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest.

Johann Sebastiani – Matthaüs Passion
Johann Caspar Kerll – Requiem

German composer Johann Sebastiani’s (1622-1683) interpretation of the Matthew’s Passion is three times shorter than Bach’s masterpiece and precedes it by about half a century. By the 17th century, settings of the Passion narrative had become the speciality of the Lutheran church. Sebastiani is said to have been the first to incorporate Lutheran chorales into the score, providing the solo voices with an accompaniment of strings and continuo. His score alternates recitatives for the evangelist and the words of Christ with hymns and chorales provided by the other singers. The work has a subtle alternation of the different movements thanks to a deliberately chosen instrumentation – only two violins accompany the words of Christ, while the chorales of the soprano solo are accompanied only by the four violas. Johann Caspar Kerll’s Requiem completes this beautiful Passion concerto.

Coproduction: Perpodium
Supported by the Tax shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest.