Birmingham Bach Choir launch their 2023/2024 Concert Season on Saturday 18 November 2023 with Radiant Choral Masterpieces.

The concert, at St Paul's Church in Birmingham's historic Jewellery Quarter, sees the acclaimed West Midlands-based choir take on major works by JS Bach, D. Scarlatti and Liszt.

With text from Isaiah 41:10 and 43:1, and a hymn by Paul Gerhardt, Johann Sebastian Bach's Fürchte dich nicht (Do not fear, or Be not afraid) maybe one of his least performed motets, yet the work is both joyful and thrilling. Though the date (and location) of composition is contested by music scholars, the piece was written for a funeral, and is an emotionally complex work requiring a two-choir format which touches on themes of doubt and fear, yet also offers comfort.

The son of renowned composer Alessandro Scarlatti, Domenico Scarlatti was coincidentally born in 1685 - the same year as Bach (and also fellow composer Handel). Famed for his 555 solo keyboard compositions, Domenico also wrote several operas and various other pieces. His meditative Stabat Mater, from 1715, was written when Domenico was in Rome and arguably at the height of his compositional powers. Like the Bach piece, it also requires a two-choir format.

The evening concludes with Franz Liszt's beautiful Missa Choralis. Dating from the latter part of the 19th century (following the death of the composer’s son and daughter), it clearly comes from a different time, yet shares a connection with Domenico's Stabat Mater. Also composed in Rome, Liszt's Mass was borne out of a desire to reform the staid religious music of the period and though it harks back to past religious musical traditions, it nonetheless manages to look firmly forward too.

Birmingham Bach Choir: Radiant Choral Masterpieces is on Saturday 18 November 2023 at St. Paul's Church, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham B3 1QZ. For tickets and more information, see: birmingham.bachchoir.com