ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
PHILIPPE HERREWEGHE
*Johann Michael BACH* (1648-1694):
Cantate ‘Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ’
*Johann Sebastian BACH* (1685-1750):
Cantate BWV 43 ‘Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen’
Cantate BWV 6 ‘Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden’
Himmelfahrts-Oratorium BWV 11 ‘Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen’
Grace Davidson _soprano_
Damien Guillon _alto_
Thomas Hobbs _tenor_
Peter Kooij _bass_
*Collegium Vocale Gent*
Philippe Herreweghe
As a cantor, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) left more of a legacy than his magnificent passion music. He commemorated the feast of Easter itself, and the important feast days following it with lovely cantatas and oratorios. Structurally, his _Himmelfahrts-Oratorium_ from 1735 is linked to the tradition of Schütz’s _historia_. Its festive orchestration using trumpets and tympani and the parody technique are strong reminders of the Christmas oratorio he had composed several months before. In both this oratorio and the two-part cantata _‘Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen’_ from 1726, one feeling dominates: the rejoicing and triumphalism at Christ’s victory over death.