— Organists and Organ Playing —

No rest for the weary

April 12, 2012
Bach Pilgrimage VIII
Bach Pilgrimage VIII, April 21, 7:30 pm. This picture shows the interior of St. Thomas in Leipzig, where Bach was cantor for 27 years.

The Easter music has hardly been put away and it’s already time for our next “biggie,” the Bach Pilgrimage VIII concert on Saturday, April 21st, as part of the Abendmusiken series. The concert will focus on music from Leipzig, in the year 1726. This upcoming concert will herald the return of retired cantor, Carl Crosier, to the stage, as he performs Bach’s Partita No. 4 in D major, BWV 828 for harpsichord. The Lutheran Church of Honolulu Choir and Bach Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Felipe, will follow with Bach’s monumental Motet No. 1, Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225. Yes, we used this piece liturgically on Easter Day (split into three parts for the Offertory, Communion and Postlude), but for the concert the work will be sung straight through. Luckily we were able to engage the same orchestra players for Easter as well as the concert, so our rehearsals should be pretty efficient.On the second half of the program there will be two cantatas: Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 and Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen, BWV 32, featuring soprano Georgine Stark and bass Keane Ishii.

It was eight years ago that Carl Crosier started this series of concerts, each focusing on a different period of Bach’s music. Just for fun, I looked up the repertoire for the last eight years:

Bach Pilgrimage I: Lüneburg, Arnstadt and Muhlhausen
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Partita on Sei gegrüsset (organ), Cantata 71
Bach Pilgrimage II: Weimar 1700-1714.
Harpsichord Toccata in D Major, Cantata 54, Cantata 12
Bach Pilgrimage III: Weimar 1708-1717
Cantata 155, Concerto in D after Vivaldi for Harpsichord, Violin Concerto in A minor, Cantata 172, Prelude and Fugue in A minor (organ)
Bach Pilgrimage IV: Cöthen
Cello Suite in C major, Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor, Partita for Solo Violin (D minor), Church Cantata 121 (Hamburg version)
Bach Pilgrimage V: Cöthen
Violin Sonata in E major, Orchestral Suite in C major, Cantata 23, Organ Prelude and Fugue in G Major “Fiddle”
Bach Pilgrimage VI: Leipzig 1723
Organ Prelude and Fugue in C major “9/8” (organ), Cantata 75, Magnificat in E-flat
Bach Pilgrimage VII: Leipzig 1724
Cantata 180, Cantata 66, Cello Suite No. 5
Bach Pilgrimage VIII: Leipzig 1726
Harpsichord Partita in D major, Motet #1, Cantata 32, Cantata  17

(Isn’t it fun numbering these concerts with Roman numerals? Just like the Super Bowls!)