Bach at One

Trinity Church continues its century-old tradition of offering free midday music: On Wednesdays this spring, some of the country’s leading interpreters of baroque music — the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Trinity Choir, and early music expert and organist Avi Stein — continue a particularly special season of Bach at One. Hear Bach’s work in the context of some of his predecessors, including members of his own family, and lose yourself in the spectacular Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major.

May 7, 1–2pm

Revel in the two distinct phases of Bach’s prolific Leipzig period — the last quarter- century of his life, when he wrote most of the cantatas we perform today. Having spent his career moving from one job to another, serving as organist, concertmaster, or music director, the composer finally settled in the German city in the mid- 1720s and spent his first few years composing such sacred works as Nun is das Heil und die Kraft. Bach then turned his focus to the Collegium Musicum, a public concert series performed at either a coffee house or a beer garden, depending on the season. He continued to write cantatas, but the texts came from poetry, rather than scripture, and were written to celebrate far more earthly meditations, such as civic happenings or the newly fashionable drink: coffee. Cantata 207, Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten, which translates to “united discord of quivering strings,” offered a particularly splendid commemoration of a professor’s appointment at the local university. A philosophical conversation between the allegorical characters Fortune, Thankfulness, and Honor, it is one of Bach’s grandest and most opulent cantatas and includes an ingenious reworking of the first Brandenburg concerto.

May 14, 1–2pm

Written by Johann Sebastian’s older cousin, Johann Christoph Bach, Mein Freundin, du bist schön is a profoundly beautiful and joyous setting of love poetry from the Song of Songs. Most likely performed at the wedding of Johann Sebastian’s older brother, the cantata is but one example of the prodigious talent that preceded and influenced Johann Sebastian and ran through generations of the Bach family. Performed by Trinity Choir and Trinity Baroque Orchestra, led by Avi Stein on organ.

May 21, 1–2 pm

Join Trinity Choir and Trinity Baroque Orchestra, led by organist Avi Stein, for Bach’s beautiful Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn (cantata 92), a sacred work that references the soul’s surrender as the way to heaven. Then glory in the masterful Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major — Bach’s first major work for solo harpsichord and orchestra. The wildly popular Brandenburg Concertos gave almost every period instrument a place to shine, and the fifth spotlights the flute, violin, and harpsichord — which it moves into the limelight with an unforgettable cadenza (a technically brilliant passage) unlike anything of its time.

May 28, 1–2pm

To usher in Ascension Day — when we celebrate the anniversary of Trinity Church’s consecration — Trinity Baroque Orchestra and Trinity Choir will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s Ascension Oratorio, or Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen. Set to passages from Luke, Mark, and Acts of the Apostles, the magnificent work is sung by a tenor evangelist (a musical narrator of dramatic scripture), opens with a festive chorus, and concludes with a chorale fantasia. Also on this Tuesday’s program: Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, which was set for four voices to Psalm 117, a joyous text known in Latin as Laudate Dominum. Melissa Attebury, director.

June 4, 1–2pm

This afternoon, hear Bach pay homage to his forerunners. Musikalische Exequien, op. 7, by the great German composer Heinrich Schütz, is a funeral piece that parallels the traditional Latin Requiem in its expression of mortality, comfort, and hope. This collection of motets, one of the finest choral cycles of the 17th century, had a far-reaching impact (including on Johannes Brahms, whose German Requiem follows a similar structure of sacred poetry). You’ll note a similar style while listening to Bach’s Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf. Performed by Trinity Choir, led by Avi Stein on organ.

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