Saturday 17 May 2025
In 1723, Johann Sebastian Bach left his job as Kapellmeister to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, and travelled with two carriages to Leipzig, where he was appointed Thomaskantor, director of church music.
On a Saturday afternoon, just over 300 years later, as a thunderstorm threatened, leading to a downpour of biblical proportions only a couple of hours later, musical and spiritual pilgrims queued to hear the music of JS Bach and others in a packed Thomas Kirche.
Part church service, part concert, this event included a short sermon, a congregational hymn, the Lord’s prayer, and prayers for those at war. The Thomanerchor (St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig), the world-famous boys’ choir, has been singing in Leipzig for over 800 years. They were joined by musicians from another world-famous cultural institution, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
The church’s design means that the congregation or audience in the main body of the church can only hear the performers, not see them. The disembodied voices and instruments floated above us from behind.
“Halfway down the church, a woman held a baby, who looked up towards the musicians on the balcony, transfixed by the music. Near them stood an old man with a long white beard and flowing white hair, also looking up at the singers. He was as transfixed by the music as the baby, demonstrating music’s power across generations and centuries.“
This isn’t the place to review the event as it wasn’t a concert, more of an aesthetic and intellectual experience, and for some a spiritual one. It ended with a performance of the opening of Bach’s Mass in B Minor, one of the greatest works of Western civilisation.
One image that sticks in my mind is a human reaction to the Mass in B Minor. Halfway down the church, a woman held a baby, who looked up towards the musicians on the balcony, transfixed by the music. Near them stood an old man with a long white beard and flowing white hair, also looking up at the singers. He was as transfixed by the music as the baby, demonstrating music’s power across generations and centuries.
For a review of a performance of Bach’s B Minor Mass by Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard415 in Manchester, click here.
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