Bach, Schütz & Schein: Music of Consolation by Various, Noiztik (2022/2022), Zuzendaria John Eliot Gardiner, Philharmonie, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

In June 2022, John Eliot Gardiner led the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists on a tour of Europe, performing the music of Bach and two of his German forebears: Schütz and Schein in a programme of music of consolation. The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists travelled to Luxembourg Philharmonie, Palau de la Música - Barcelona, Nikolaikirche, Bachfest - Leipzig, St Martini - Braunschweig, Konzerthaus - Dortmund, and Odeon of Herodes Atticus - Athens before returning for a fantastic concert at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London. 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 explored these great composers’ 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 was accompanied by the rich sound of early brass instruments in rarely heard short works by Schütz and Schein, and two other consolatory pieces: Bach’s ‘O Jesu Christ mein’s Lebens Licht’, BWV 118; and Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien, an exquisitely poetic meditation written for Prince Heinrich of Reuss.