Bach walked 270 miles to hear the music of Buxtehude. You don’t have to go quite so far, as the Monteverdi Choir performs the magnificent, deeply moving music of the German Baroque at St Martin-in-the-Fields.

‘Vanish, gloomy spirits, before my joyful Master!’ But what kind of composer did Johann Sebastian Bach acknowledge as his master? In 1705, the young Bach walked 270 miles on foot just for the chance to hear Dietrich Buxtehude play, but tonight St Martin-in-the-Fields brings him direct to you, when the Monteverdi Choir lavishes all its artistry and insight on the music of Bach, Buxtehude and the colleagues (and relatives) who shared their world and fired their imaginations. Soul music, German-style, performed by some of the world’s finest interpreters of Baroque choral music.

Programme:
Franz Tunder An Wasserflüssen Babylon
Buxtehude Jesu, meines Lebens Leben BuxWV 62
Bach Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich BWV 150
Handel Mein Sünd mich werden kränken sehr / Ich bin ein Glied (Brockes Passion)
Buxtehude
Alles, was ihr tut mit Worten oder mit Werken BuxWV 4
Jesu, meine Freude BuxWV 60
Befiehl dem Engel, dass er komm BuxWV 10
JC Schieferdecker Glück zu euren Hochzeitsherzen
Bach Jesu, meine Freude BWV 227

Performers:
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
Jonathan Sells conductor