Programme:

Schütz Freue dich des Weibes deiner Jugend, SWV 453
Schütz Ist nicht Ephraim mein teurer Sohn, SWV 40
Schein Da Jakob vollendet hatte
Schütz Auf dem Gebirge hat man ein Geschrei gehöret, SWV 396
Schütz Musikalische Exequien, SWV 279-281
Bach Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (Actus Tragicus), BWV 106
Bach O Jesu Christ meins Lebens Licht, BWV 118

The works in this programme explore the Lutheran concept of ‘ars moriendi’, and how each composer approaches the subject of death and attempts to comfort the bereaved through their music. Written when he was only 22 years old, Bach’s Actus Tragicus, BWV 106 can be interpreted as a cathartic musical outpouring of his own unresolved grief, after he was orphaned 12 years before.

The Monteverdi choir will be accompanied by the rich sound of early brass instruments in rarely heard short works by Schütz and Schein, and two other funerary works: Bach’s ‘O Jesu Christ mein’s Lebens Licht’, BWV 118; and Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien, an exquisitely poetic meditation written for Prince Heinrich ‘Posthumous’ of Reuss.