Bach. Magnificat

Bach’s first Christmas in Leipzig was a weighty responsibility: the new Thomas Cantor had to produce his most impressive music to date. No easy task, because for seven months he had been composing and performing a new cantata every week, sometimes even two. And now at Christmas he had to prove himself in a city that had been left musically hungry by the recent closure of the opera house. Bach acquitted himself magnificently. His Magnificat generates great drama on a compact scale, especially in his later version with festive trumpets. It is now the turn of our new resident artists Vox Luminis to make an impression. They complete the Christmas atmosphere with a Magnificat setting by Kuhnau - a work Bach himself undoubtedly also conducted - and from southern Germany a cantata by Pachelbel, who is nowadays best known for his Canon, but was a highly regarded organist in his day. Performing this evening, without a conductor, Vox Luminis take us deep into the music.