Death and Life

The sacred works of Marc-Antoine Charpentier are still among the somewhat hidden gems of 17th century music. "De profundis" - "From the depths", a setting of the 130th Psalm, is a desperate cry of man in the face of his own transience, frighteningly topical in the present situation of confrontation with war and inconceivable human suffering in Europe. The "Prose des morts", a part of the ancient mourning liturgy, is a large composition for eight voices and instruments, which looks far beyond the present to the end of times.

Contrasting this funeral music of French provenance is a masterpiece that can be considered an expression of the Protestant ars moriendi. Johann Sebastian Bach's funeral cantata "Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit" BWV 106, also known as "Actus tragicus," is an early work by the master and is one of his most touching pieces, most highly regarded even in the Romantic period. Albert Schweizer even confessed that he would give "two hundred Bach cantatas for a hundred in the manner of the Actus tragicus." The intimate scoring of a "stille music" of two recorders, viols and continuo creates a wonderful setting for the expressive solo and ensemble entries of the singing voices. The biblical texts around the theme of death inevitably draw the listeners into a vortex of reflection to the very bottom of their own existence - and beyond.


Ensemble ad·petram

 

Sopran: Jessica Jans, Stephanie Pfeffer

Alt: Jan Börner, Lisa Lüthi

Tenor: Andrés Montilla Acurero, Raphael Höhn

Bass: Lisandro Abadie, Álvaro Etcheverry

Violine: Katharina Heutjer, Eva Saladin

Viola: Christoph Riedo, Sarah Giger

Violoncello: Jonathan Pešek, Sophie Lamberbourg

Viola da Gamba: Amélie Chemin, Christoph Prendl

Kontrabass: Fred Uhlig

Theorbe: Maria Ferré

Blockflöte: Tabea Schwartz, Lea Sobbe

Orgel: Josef Laming

Leitung: Christoph Anzböck


30th October 2022

15h lecture , 16h concert

Mariastein Abbey


 
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