Death and Life
The sacred works of Marc-Antoine Charpentier are still among the somewhat hidden gems of 17th century music. "De profundis" - "From the depths", a setting of the 130th Psalm, is a desperate cry of man in the face of his own transience, frighteningly topical in the present situation of confrontation with war and inconceivable human suffering in Europe. The "Prose des morts", a part of the ancient mourning liturgy, is a large composition for eight voices and instruments, which looks far beyond the present to the end of times.
Contrasting this funeral music of French provenance is a masterpiece that can be considered an expression of the Protestant ars moriendi. Johann Sebastian Bach's funeral cantata "Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit" BWV 106, also known as "Actus tragicus," is an early work by the master and is one of his most touching pieces, most highly regarded even in the Romantic period. Albert Schweizer even confessed that he would give "two hundred Bach cantatas for a hundred in the manner of the Actus tragicus." The intimate scoring of a "stille music" of two recorders, viols and continuo creates a wonderful setting for the expressive solo and ensemble entries of the singing voices. The biblical texts around the theme of death inevitably draw the listeners into a vortex of reflection to the very bottom of their own existence - and beyond.
Ensemble ad·petram
Sopran: Jessica Jans, Stephanie Pfeffer
Alt: Jan Börner, Lisa Lüthi
Tenor: Andrés Montilla Acurero, Raphael Höhn
Bass: Lisandro Abadie, Álvaro Etcheverry
Violine: Katharina Heutjer, Eva Saladin
Viola: Christoph Riedo, Sarah Giger
Violoncello: Jonathan Pešek, Sophie Lamberbourg
Viola da Gamba: Amélie Chemin, Christoph Prendl
Kontrabass: Fred Uhlig
Theorbe: Maria Ferré
Blockflöte: Tabea Schwartz, Lea Sobbe
Orgel: Josef Laming
Leitung: Christoph Anzböck
30th October 2022
15h lecture , 16h concert
Mariastein Abbey
