Bach, the Universe and Everything

‘Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan’ is a remarkable cantata that appears to have been performed at an unspecified special occasion in Leipzig in 1734 (we’ll hear another such work at March’s event).

The occasion may have been a wedding as the chorale upon which it is based was a well-known wedding song in the city. The result is a work in which Bach challenges his singers and instrumentalists: the opening fantasia is followed unusually by no less than four arias (and no recitatives) for the quartet of vocal soloists with impressive solos for flute and oboe d’amore.

Our focus on the music of the Flemish composer Jacobus Clemens (c. 1510 – 1556) continues with the motet O Maria vernans rosa, a paean to Mary as a light ‘brighter than the stars’ who guides and protects.