Bach, Schütz & Mendelssohn

Firstly, there is the rarely performed St John Passion by Heinrich Schütz: penetrating music for an a capella choir, filled with temperament, passion and expression. Then come three sacred choral works by Felix Mendelssohn, which are powerful whilst exuding a quiet solemnity. Great expressiveness is demonstrated, for example, in the indignation of Warum toben die Heiden and in the wonderful question and answer sequence between the cantor and the choir in Mein Gott, warum hast Du mich verlassen.

Bach himself is represented by his immortal Jesu, meine Freude. In this motet, we hear some beautiful examples of Bach’s expertise in expressing words through music. The singing is led by the renowned tenor Christoph Prégardien. Prégardien is celebrated worldwide as a singer and evangelist in Bach’s Passions, but he is now also an acclaimed conductor.