The Main Hall of the National Forum of Music will be filled with the sounds of cantatas and motets by the Baroque master, Johann Sebastian Bach. The evening will begin with the Concerto in C minor for oboe and violin. We will hear these works performed by excellent singers and instrumentalists Wrocław Baroque Ensemble under the baton of Andrzej Kosendiak.

The Concerto in C minor for oboe and violin BWV 1060 by Johann Sebastian Bach dates back to 1736, the time when the composer had settled in Leipzig for good. The concerto is a representative genre for the Baroque era. In the Bach’s work, it found a wide range of applications – on the one hand, Bach composed concerti grossi, and on the other, solo concertos. The three-movement work that the musicians will perform that evening is also directly related to the Concerto in C minor for two harpsichords and orchestra, which is a transcription of the version for oboe and violin.

Cantatas occupy an equally important place in Bach’s artistic output. In 1723, the composer accepted the position of cantor of the church of St Thomas in Leipzig, which involved numerous duties. One of them was writing cantatas – for every Sunday and every church holiday. And indeed, Bach’s religious cantatas graced services at St Thomas and St Nicolas. In the first five years of his tenure as cantor in Leipzig alone, Bach is said to have written around three hundred cantatas. During the concert, two of the pieces composed at that time will be heard: Wo gehest du hin? BWV 166 and Ich habe meine Zuversicht BWV 188. The repertoire will be complemented by two motets: Komm, Jesu, Komm BWV 229 to a text by Paul Thymich, and Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied BWV 225 based on Psalms 149 and 150.