Sora nostra morte corporale
Coro & Ensemble 1685*
conductor Antonio Greco
Johann Sebastian Bach
Motet “Der Gerechte kömmt um” BWV 1149
Jan Dismas Zelenka
Requiem ZWV 48
Johann Sebastian Bach
Motet “O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht” BWV 118
*Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi“ di Ravenna – Corso di prassi esecutiva del prof. Paolo Ballanti
concert realised within the Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) Erasmus+,
with the participation of students from various European institutions
The theme of this concert is hidden in the last verses of the Canticle of the Creatures, “Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no living man can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin. Blessed are those who will find Your most holy will.” The songs are meditations on death, but not without hope. The poignant motet “Der Gerechte kömmt um”, attributed to Bach, is based on a passage from Isaiah that, while acknowledging the inevitability of death, offers solace to those departing this world, promising eternal peace. The same theme is echoed in Bach’s other motet, “O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht”. These works provide context for the intense Requiem by Zelenka, a Bohemian composer who was admired by his (and Bach’s) contemporaries but has only recently been rediscovered.
