Holland Baroque joins forces with the vocal ensemble Voces Suaves to explore Bach’s enigmatic and final masterpiece, Die Kunst der Fuge. In Bach Enchanted, singers and instrumentalists take turns and become intertwined in a flow of Johann Sebastian Bach’s heavenly, timeless music.
In Die Kunst der Fuge, a simple melody develops into a rich and playful tapestry of inversions and reflections, with fugues and canons following one another in a captivating carousel. Johann Sebastian Bach continues to experiment with a single musical idea throughout the entire opus. Through the addition of lyrics and Baroque reflections on mathematical and philosophical mysteries, the music reveals itself to the listener in a new way. Enchanting!
Bach’s own words provided the inspiration for this project: “…am allermeisten aber eine cantabile Art im Spielen zu Erlangen”, loosely translated: play the music as if you were singing it.
Singers and instrumentalists take turns and interweave with one another. The complete Die Kunst der Fuge, note for note as Bach wrote it, set to text by Harry van der Kamp.
This promises to be a special encounter between the internationally renowned vocal ensemble Voces Suaves and the musicians of Holland Baroque, who time and again demonstrate that Baroque music can still touch everyone’s heart today. Die Kunst der Fuge: enchanting music for eternity.
Programme
J.S. Bach’s Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080, arranged by Judith and Tineke Steenbrink. 17th-century texts by Harry van der Kamp.
Musical direction and instrumental arrangements
Judith and Tineke Steenbrink