Program
- Johann Sebastian Bach
Dazu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, Cantate BWV 40
Ich freue mich in dir, Cantate BWV 133
Messe en Fa majeur, BWV 233
As soon as he arrived in Leipzig, Bach was faced with the need to provide numerous cantatas for the Christmas season. It was traditional to celebrate in music not only the feast of the Nativity itself, but also the two days following Christmas, the first Sunday after Christmas, New Year’s Day and the Sunday following it, and Epiphany!
The Cantata BWV 40, written for the Second Day of Christmas, was first given in 1723, the year of Bach’s arrival in Leipzig. It features parts for oboes and horns, which contribute to the primitive joy exuded by this work. A year later, adoration and tenderness are the principal colours of the Cantata BWV 133 for the Third Day of Christmas, underlined by the oboes d’amore.
The Lutheran Mass BWV 233 consists of the first two sections of the Ordinary of the Mass, the Kyrie and the Gloria. It provides an opportunity to hear adaptations (‘parodies’) of three pre-existing cantatas, including BWV 133.
Akadêmia :
8 singers
11 instrumentalists
Françoise Lasserre, conductor