Motets by Johann Sebastian and Johann Christoph Bach
Elements of JS Bach’s motet style can be traced back to the previous generation of his family, when his father’s cousins Johann Christoph and Johann Michael Bach experimented with soprano chorale cantus firmus and audacious harmonic language at the service of the text.
Alongside Johann Sebastian’s well-known masterpieces, Solomon’s Knot perform a number of works by the ‘profund’ and ‘expressive’ Johann Christoph, as JSB himself did in Leipzig in the final years of his life.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Fürchte dich nicht
Komm, Jesu, komm
Jesu, meine Freude
Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703)
Fürchte dich nicht
Lieber Herr Gott, wecke uns auf
Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener in Friede fahren
Der Gerechte, ob er gleich zu zeitlich stirbt
SOLOMON’S KNOT
Soprano Zoë Brookshaw, Rebecca Lea
Alto Kate Symonds-Joy, Nathan Mercieca
Tenor Thomas Herford, James Robinson
Bass Jonathan Sells (artistic director), Alex Ashworth
