Bach Advent Cantatas: A Choral Meditation for Advent at St Dunstan's Church, Mayfield on Sunday 12th December 2021

Please note: This concert is in the past and has already taken place.

Bach Advent Cantatas

A Choral Meditation for Advent

Part of the Mayfield Festival - Autumn Concerts 2021

Add to my Calendar 12-12-2021 19:30 12-12-2021 21:30 36 Bach Advent Cantatas Advent is both a time of expectation for the Second Coming of Christ and a season of penitence and reflection to precede the celebrations of Christmas. The texts and Biblical readings associated with it have long been a source of inspiration for composers, not least J S Bach, whose Advent Cantatas for soloists, chorus and orchestra are among his finest works. Extracts from three of them feature in this meditation: the famous ‘Wachet Auf’ BWV 140 draws its text from the parable of the wise and foolish virgins waiting for the bridegroom (the allegorical coming Christ); BWV 147 retells the story of the visit of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth shortly before the birth of Jesus; and its sister work, BWV 186, employs the recurring theme of a light shining in darkness, another Advent image for the returning Christ. All three showcase Bach’s masterful musical response to texts at its most moving and expressive.   The music will be interspersed with reflections, readings and poetry selected and read by The Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, who served as Bishop of Salisbury from 2011 until his retirement in July 2021. Since 2014 he has been Chair of the C of E's Environmental Working Group and lead bishop for the Environment. He is a vice-president of the Royal School of Church Music and in 2013 was made an Honorary Fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians. Since 9 February 2015, he has been a member of the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual. From 1995 to 2011, he was the vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, where he initiated and led a £36 million buildings renewal. While in this position, he was a regular broadcaster and published articles and two books, A Room with a View: Ministry with the World at Your Door (SPCK 2008) and The Art of Worship: Paintings, Prayers and Readings for Meditation (National Gallery London with Yale University Press, 2011). St Dunstan's Church, Mayfield DD/MM/YYYY

Details

St Dunstan's Church
High Street
Mayfield
Kent
TN20 6AB
England

Sunday 12th December 2021
7:30 PM

Programme

Johann Sebastian Bach – Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (cantata), BWV 140
Johann Sebastian Bach – Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht, BWV 186
Johann Sebastian Bach – Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (cantata), BWV 147: 'Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring'

Performers

Annenora Benians – mezzo-soprano
Dee Benians – soprano
Rosanna Wicks – soprano
Tom Hawkey-Soar – Tenor
Stephen Lazell – Bass
Andrew Benians – Conductor

St. Dunstan's Parish Church Choir
Mayfield Festival Baroque Orchestra

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Programme Note

Advent is both a time of expectation for the Second Coming of Christ and a season of penitence and reflection to precede the celebrations of Christmas. The texts and Biblical readings associated with it have long been a source of inspiration for composers, not least J S Bach, whose Advent Cantatas for soloists, chorus and orchestra are among his finest works. Extracts from three of them feature in this meditation: the famous ‘Wachet Auf’ BWV 140 draws its text from the parable of the wise and foolish virgins waiting for the bridegroom (the allegorical coming Christ); BWV 147 retells the story of the visit of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth shortly before the birth of Jesus; and its sister work, BWV 186, employs the recurring theme of a light shining in darkness, another Advent image for the returning Christ. All three showcase Bach’s masterful musical response to texts at its most moving and expressive.

The music will be interspersed with reflections, readings and poetry selected and read by The Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, who served as Bishop of Salisbury from 2011 until his retirement in July 2021. Since 2014 he has been Chair of the C of E's Environmental Working Group and lead bishop for the Environment. He is a vice-president of the Royal School of Church Music and in 2013 was made an Honorary Fellow of the Guild of Church Musicians. Since 9 February 2015, he has been a member of the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual. From 1995 to 2011, he was the vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, where he initiated and led a £36 million buildings renewal. While in this position, he was a regular broadcaster and published articles and two books, A Room with a View: Ministry with the World at Your Door (SPCK 2008) and The Art of Worship: Paintings, Prayers and Readings for Meditation (National Gallery London with Yale University Press, 2011).

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