The Main Hall of the National Forum of Music will be filled with the sounds of cantatas and motets by 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 of Wrocław Baroque Ensemble under the baton of Andrzej Kosendiak.

The concerto – a genre flourishing the Baroque era – found a versatile application in Bach’s work. He composed concerti grossi and solo concertos. The three-movement Concerto in C minor for oboe and violin BWV 1060R was written probably during the composer's stay in Köthen, between 1717 and 1723. The score of the work has been lost, but it was reconstructed based on the Concerto in C minor for two harpsichords and orchestra, BWV 1060, which was a later transcription of the concerto for oboe and violin.

Cantatas have an equally important place in Bach’s oeuvre. In 1723, the composer accepted the position of cantor of the church of St Thomas in Leipzig, which was associated with many duties. One of them was writing cantatas – for every Sunday and every church holiday. And indeed, Bach’s religious cantatas embellished services at St Thomas’ and St Nicolaus’. 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 performed: Wo gehest du hin? BWV 166 and Ich habe meine Zuversicht BWV 188. The programme 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.