Bach at the Salon: Toccatas 2

Leipzig in 1720s was an intellectual hub, with the local university, organised in ‘collegia’ and learned societies. Especially formative for J S Bach was the open house kept by Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, one of the earliest forerunners of what became known as Enlightenment’s “Salonkultur”. Here the members of the ‘Deutsche Gesellschaft’, a literary society, intellectuals, and artists met. 300 years ago, in 1725, Bach set a series of cantatas by von Ziegler who later became the first female ‘Poet Laureate’ of Germany. The talks explores this intellectual scene and its influence on secular cantatas.

Programme:
Toccata in E minor BWV 914
Excerpts for voice and harpsichord from the 1725 Notenbüchlein for Anna Magdalena Bach
Gamba Sonata in D major BWV 1028
Toccata in C minor BWV 911

The final concert in this series will be on: 19 July (save the date!) – more details to follow.