The Chattanooga Bach Choir celebrates the first Sunday of 2020 with a performance of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Part V, "Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen (Let honor to you, God, be sung)," BWV 248.
The concert continues the choir's Barnett & Company Cantata Series, which focuses on Bach's choral works written for specific Sundays in the liturgical calendar. The performance will be held Sunday, Jan. 5, at Christ Church Episcopal, at the intersection of McCallie Avenue and Douglas Street, conducted by David Long.
The program will begin with Bach's Prelude in C major for organ, BWV 547, followed by Orlando di Lassus' introit motet, "In Deo salutare meum (Psalm 62)." Joining the Bach Choir and Orchestra will be guest artists Maria Rist, soprano; Emily Halbert, alto; Mark Laseter, tenor; Matthew Hoch, bass; and Patrick Rice, organist.
If you go
› What: Bach Choir› Where: Christ Church Episcopal, 663 Douglas St.› When: 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 5› Admission: $20, free for students with valid ID› For more information: http://www.chattanoogabachchoir.org/
"Bach's Christmas Oratorio, first performed during the 1734-35 Christmas season, is comprised of six separate cantatas celebrating the specific feast days between Christmas and Epiphany: I. the birth of Jesus, II. the announcement to the shepherds by a host of angels, III. the adoration of the child by the shepherds, IV. the circumcision and naming of Jesus, V. the coming of the Magi from the East to find the child "born King of the Jews" (the Sunday after New Year's Day); and VI. the Magi's worship with their gifts. On each of these days, Bach's congregation was inspired by a cantata that recounted one of these stories, commenting and reflecting upon the events and their meanings for the Christian individual and community," Long explains.
"We are performing the fifth cantata depicting the Wise Men following the star on their journey to find this special child and King Herod's fear at this news. Scored for two oboes, two violins, viola and continuo, the work begins with a joyful chorus exalting God ("Let honor to You be sung") and then relates the story with dramatic recitatives and contemplative arias ("Happy are you who have seen the light"), ("Your splendor consumes all darkness"), ("When will he who is the comfort of his people come?") and concludes with an uplifting chorale ("Indeed such a room in my heart will seem filled with sunlight").
"We present these performances of Bach's inspiring music to provide an hour of beauty and respite on a Sunday afternoon; and on this day, to welcome the new year," Long says.
For more information: www.chattanoogabachchoir.org.