In the second concert you will hear for the first time the project choir that has been put together especially for this Bach week. The singers will receive intensive preparation from Christoph Siebert, with additional coaching by Philippe Herreweghe. In their programme you will hear the deeply moving death arias for choir, and also motets by Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703). He was regarded as the most important composer among Johann Sebastian forefathers. The influence of Heinrich Schütz is immediately apparent in his style.
Moreover, the motet for five voices 'Jesu meine Freude' is one of the most captivating pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is one of the first pieces that Bach wrote as Thomas cantor in Leipzig. He took up this exceptionally influential function in 1723. The cantor was the music director of all the churches in Leipzig, a town where Lutheranism was alive and kicking. Bach wrote this motet for the funeral of the postmaster's widow. It remains, right up until the present day, one of the most often sung church hymns.