The Adelaide Cantata Band will be presenting J.S. Bach’s “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” (BWV 140) in our 11am service, Sunday 30 November.
“Wachet auf” (Sleepers wake, the voice is calling) is one of Bach’s best-known and best-loved cantatas.
The opening chorus is counted amongst Bach’s all-time greatest choral movements: the sopranos sing the 11-line first verse of the chorale unembellished against a rich tapestry woven from the other voices and the instruments of the orchestra. The alleluia in the 8th line is quite simply one of the most extraordinary pieces of counterpoint ever written.
Two poignant soprano-bass duets surround the central tenor solo, ‘Zion hears the watchmen sing’, well-known from Bach’s own arrangement of this movement for organ, the first of the Schübler chorale preludes. In this movement, a lyric, ingeniously syncopated countermelody accompanies the tenor singing the unadorned chorale melody.
The richly harmonized chorale returns as the final movement.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear a Bach cantata performed in liturgical context by the critically acclaimed Adelaide Cantata Band.
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