Bach, Sorrow and Joy

In collaboration with Thomas Wilson and the Choir of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Stabat mater arr. J.S. Bach as Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden BWV 1083

J.S. Bach The Art of Fugue/Contrapunctus XIX

J.S. Bach Jesu, meine Freude

A contemplation of the mysteries of Lent and Passiontide in the timeless music of J.S. Bach including his contemporary adaptation of Pergolesi’s heartfelt Stabat mater. The first of two projects with St Mary’s Cathedral demonstrating the transcendent power of vocal music in sacred masterpieces inspired by the above and the beyond. The music of J.S. Bach has been described as "indestructible"—the beauty of Bach’s counterpoint shines through even the most unusual arrangement, such as The Song Company’s celebrated scat version of the final fugue from The Art of Fugue, the contrapuntal handbook par excellence!

But Bach also turned his hand to other composers’ music and did his own arranging, including his German-language rewrite of Pergolesi’s famous and enduring setting of the Stabat mater. The boy choristers of St Mary’s Cathedral Choir join forces with The Song Company soloists Susannah Lawergren and Anna Fraser for music inspired by the ultimate bond of mother and son. Bach, Sorrow and Joy culminates in Bach’s most substantial motet, the eleven-movement Jesu, meine Freude, where sorrow and gloom are turned to freedom and joy!