Koor en Orkest Collegium Vocale Gent

The first concert in the final weekend of 'Mein Verlangen' opens with a 'Tombeau' by Silvius Leopold Weiss (1684-1750). This lute player composed this work in memory of another famous lute player, Count Johann Anton Losy von Losimthal. Sebastian Knüpfer (1633-1676), a predecessor of Bach's as Thomas cantor in Leipzig, wrote the motet 'Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist' there for a particular occasion. Both works set the tone for two of the most beautiful compositions by Bach on the theme of death. The cantata entitled 'Christ lag in Todesbanden' is one of the first Bach wrote. He used the seven verses of the Easter chant by Martin Luther, a strikingly sombre and intense early work. Bach also composed 'Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl' in 1727 as a mourning cantata for Christiane Eberhardine, Queen of Poland and electoral-princess of Saxony. This so-called 'Trauerode' was almost not composed. This work provoked one of many notorious disputes Bach engaged in with Leipzig town council. Fortunately, this time Bach was successful. Every piece in this work is a compositional gem. The quite large and remarkable instrumentation, with theorbo and viola da gamba, presented Bach with the opportunity to give a suitable sound to every aspect of mourning.