Vocal - Choral & Counterpoint

"“Jesu, meine Freude” - probably Bach's greatest contribution to unaccompanied choral music - surrounded by works from the ‘Altbach Archive’, performed by Vox Luminis. The radiant voices have made a name for themselves in the early music scene, not least through numerous award-winning CD recordings and as Artist in Residence at the Concertgebouw Brugge, and are celebrating their debut at the Festwochen with this concert.

The “Altbach Archive” contains around 20 motets and a series of cantatas dating back to several generations of the Bach family. This remarkable collection demonstrates Johann Sebastian Bach's knowledge of the musical heritage of his widely scattered family. The family's most famous composer passed it on to his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, who is said to have guarded it like a treasure and affectionately called it “my old Bach archive”, after continuing to work on it himself. From his estate, the “Altbach Archive” was eventually transferred to the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin via a circuitous route."