Saturday 8 February 7.30pm
£18.00 (£16.00 concessions | £5.00 full time students)
Venue: St Lawrence Church

YBC presents a fascinating choral journey through German polyphony exploring what came before and what came after J.S. Bach’s choral style. The roots of this music lie with Schütz, here represented by Jauchzet dem Herrn SWV 36, Wie lieblich SWV 29 and Selig sind die Toten SWV 391. Johann Bach, great-uncle of J.S, was another forerunner whose imaginative Unser Leben ist ein Schatten always comes alive in performance. J.S. Bach’s motets for double chorus are a celebrated pinnacle of the choral repertoire and we will sing the striking funeral motet Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf BWV 226. In the 19th century, Mendelssohn re-established Bach’s reputation. Bach’s influence can be heard in his setting of the Ave Maria, the chorale setting Mitten wir im Leben sind from op.23, the all-female Laudate pueri from op. 39 and the eight-voice chorus Denn er hat seinen Engeln which he later integrated into in his great oratorio Elijah. The tradition continues with Brahms and his Warum ist das Licht gegeben (op.74) and the irresistible choral textures of Rheinberger’s Abendlied.

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