J. S. Bach: BWV 226 "The Spirit helps" and BWV 229 "Come, Jesus, come"
BWV 226 "Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf" and BWV 229 "Komm, Jesu, komm" motets for two funeral services for vocal ensemble, oboe I+II, waist, strings and basso continuo.
Bach cultivated the polyphonic vocal art of his ancestors, doubled with strings and winds, rather rarely, but then with artistic depth and creative mastery. As in the case of the motet BWV 226 composed in 1729 to mark the death of the school rector Ernesti, the occasion for this was probably almost always a prestigious mourning occasion in the context of St. Thomas's School and Leipzig's upper classes. While the astonishingly joyful "Geist" motet allows the music to "pray" powerfully in increasing vocal density instead of the dying word, "Komm, Jesu, komm" takes up a funeral aria composed by Bach's predecessor Johann Schelle as early as 1684, but transforms it into a much more modern musical language of elegiac consolation.
With a reflection on the cantata text by Oliver Zimmer.
Performers:
Choir & Orchestra of the J. S. Bach Foundation
Rudolf Lutz, conductor
Program:
5.30 pm
Musical-theological introduction to the work with Rudolf Lutz and Rev. Niklaus Peter
19.00 - approx. 20.30 hrs
1st concert performance
Reflection
2nd concert performance
Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.
19:00 - 20:30
13 November 2026