The cantata developed gradually over the 17th and 18th centuries, although it is believed that it fully blossomed thanks to the work of the master of Baroque polyphony, Johann Sebastian Bach. During the concert featuring soloists and musicians of the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra conducted by Jarosław Thiel, the artists will present some of them, including Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! and Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme.

Geist und Seele wird verwirret (Mind and soul are confused) is a piece that Bach composed in 1726, specially for the liturgy of the twelfth Sunday after the Holy Trinity Sunday. The cantata was first performed in the St Thomas Church in Leipzig, where the composer held the honourable position of cantor for years. Its text was written by the German poet and librettist Georg Christian Lehms, referring to a fragment of the St Mark’s Gospel about the healing of a deaf-mute. Two Sinfonias will be performed, opening the individual movements of the cantata. In the first part of the concert, we will also hear the Sinfonia from Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe (I stand with one foot in the grave), written three years later, and Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! – a cantata that begins with a radiant chorus chanting: “Watch! Pray! Pray! Watch!”. The first version of the work was created in Weimar – it was written for the second Sunday of Advent in 1716 – but it took its final shape seven years later, in 1723, when Bach settled permanently in Leipzig. However, the composer changed its purpose, moving the performance of the work to the end of the church year.

Das Musikalisches Opfer (Musical Offering) is one of Bach’s last works – its creation is connected with the artist’s visit to the court of the Prussian King Frederick II, where Bach’s son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, served as harpsichordist. The king, who was well-educated in music, was to play a musical theme for Johann Sebastian and ask him to improvise on it in the form of a six-part fugue. Although the improvised fugue sounded as requested, the composer did not include the king’s theme in it. Later, he did create a cycle of masterfully expressive pieces in accordance with the monarch’s guidelines, mostly composed of canons and fugues. During the Wrocław concert, the musicians will perform a fragment of Das Musikalisches Opfer – a movement entitled Ricercar. The evening will be crowned by the cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, one of Bach’s most famous and recognisable works in this genre.