SEASON 2024

Bach Akademie Australia

SYDNEY FESTIVAL - JS BACH – A LIFE IN MUSIC

In just a few years, Sydney’s Bach Akademie Australia has established itself as the leading ensemble dedicated to performing the works of JS Bach. Under violinist and founder Madeleine Easton, the ensemble's focus on mastery, authenticity and originality of interpretation makes it the ideal companion for the journey of Bach’s remarkable life, from beginning to end. Bach’s earliest cantata (his 'Actus Tragicus', circa 1708) is a perfect place to start, an introspective and innovative funeral cantata. In his splendid Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, written a decade later, we hear what is arguably the first ever keyboard concerto ever written. From Bach’s later life in Leipzig, comes his motet 'Lobet den Herrn’, one of his most joyful works, and his cantata 'Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats', a narrative of faith and hope in six captivating movements. Played in intimate, acoustically-excellent surroundings, JS Bach: A Life in Music promises spiritual depth, instrumental brilliance and choral splendour.

Bach - the benefactor

The Bach family spent their lives in service. After four generations of practicing musicians, J.S. Bach was no different. He was a passionate educator, pedagogue, school master and mentor to his own many children and those of the Thomasschule of which he was Cantor. With a strong social conscience, he composed music to enrich, instruct and inspire the lives of all. Bach Akademie Australia presents a program featuring Bach’s cantata ‘Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot’, dubbed the ‘refugee cantata’, thought to have welcomed the arrival into Germany of Protestant refugees banished from Salzburg. Composed in Cöthen, his Harpsichord Concerto in E arranged for violin is a shining example of clever adaptation, which he used later in his career as a tool for teaching his students. We end with his famous cantata ‘Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben’ BWV 147, which perfectly encapsulates Bach’s desire that our hearts, mouths, deeds and lives be in service to humanity and to God.

Bach - the mind of a genius

What defines a genius? Genius is described as one who has exceptional intellectual or creative power, a statement that applies to many a great composer. However, even amongst geniuses, Bach stands apart from his contemporaries. No one before or after him reached his level of excellence relative to their own field. His contributions to the art of music far outweigh those of his predecessors and successors, resulting in him almost single-handedly developing Western music to its peak. In this program, we delve into the mind of a genius through his music, demonstrating beyond his creative genius that shines so brightly today.

in the steps of bach - the road to Lübeck

It was the autumn of 1705. A young 20 year old Bach began a journey on foot of almost 400 kilometres from Arnstadt in the heart of Germany, to Lübeck near the Baltic coast. Who would undertake such a gruelling expedition? Only one such as J.S. Bach, whose desire to study the art and craft of the famous organist Dietrich Buxtehude, drove him to complete a journey most would baulk at – such was his desire to learn from his idol and better himself as a musician. Buxtehude’s music proved to be a beacon of inspiration for Bach, changing the course of music forever. Featuring the Australian organist Marko Sever and Baritone Andrew O’Connor, we chart the journey to Lübeck through music of the great masters Bach took with him, ending with Bach’s Cantata BWV 170 which so perfectly encapsulates the results of such inspiration on the mind of a genius.

bach’s christmas oratorio

For us, Christmas without the music of Bach is not Christmas. No other composer before or since has been able to capture the joy of the Nativity and the hope and renewal that springs forth from it so perfectly. Over 6 Cantatas, Bach takes us on a journey through the Christmas story from the birth of Jesus, the adoration of the shepherds, the new year and finally, the epiphany. Join us in a blaze of trumpets, timpani, our full choir and orchestra to celebrate this truly special season and ring in the new year with joy.