Back in July I posted a mournful note to say that the Bach Vespers series at St Mary-at-Hill was possibly no more, owing to the departure of Cantor Martin Knizia.
I am very pleased to share the far more joyful news that the Music at Hill team have now appointed a new cantor, Erik Eichelberger, who will be leading a performance of the monumental BWV 80 Ein Feste Burg this coming Sunday, October 25th.
I am sure Eichelberger will prove to be a worthy successor to Knizia and it’s great to see that many of the fine musicians from previous vespers will be returning.
Full details are here and I strongly encourage anyone who loves the choral music of JS Bach (and ovpp performances of it in particular) to get along to the service.
Giving the gift of Bach
In other JSB news, I have just discovered the fantastic allofbach.com, although no doubt all of you digital hipsters were way ahead of me on this one.
It’s a beautifully simple idea from the Netherlands Bach Society: every Friday, a video of one of Bach’s works is uploaded to the site – and all for free.
In addition to the high quality performances and video, each work is supported by a background article, the text and translation of the vocal works and (as if that wasn’t already enough) supplementary videos of interviews with the musicians, providing even more insight into each work.
So far they have uploaded some choral works (various cantatas, the Magnificat and even the St Matthew Passion), organ preludes and a couple of concertos among others – and it’s wonderful to think that by this time tomorrow there should be a new work up there!
The Netherlands Bach Society rightly describes it as a gift to the world – it’s certainly one of the most extraordinary and ambitious acts of cultural generosity I have ever come across – so let’s all share this gift as wide as we can and get the whole world immersed in Bach!
Cheers
Kevin
Polyphony Down the Pub 