Das Blut Jesu Christi, and Sei lieber Tag

Christoph’s brother, J. Michael Bach, was a prominent organist and instrument builder; he has the distinction of being Sebastian’s cousin and father-in-law (Sebastian’s marriage to second cousin Maria Barbara was something of an issue at the time). Only a handful of organ works and about 20 sacred vocal pieces survive, including the two motets heard this evening. These works were passed down through the Bach family, eventually being owned by the Berlin Singakademie, where they were destroyed during the Second World War. Fortunately they had already been published in the early 1800s. The five-voice motet Das Blut Jesu Christi is a brief work in two main parts: the first, a free-composed mixture of choral homophony and polyphony; the second, marked by the appearance of the cantus firmus melody in the treble. Only slighter longer, Sei, lieber Tag, willkommen makes greater use of divided ensembles, with alternating groups of three and four voices coming together at major cadences. The simple style, including moments of more active, instrumental writing, reflects what Sebastian Bach’s early lost vocal works may have sounded like.

(c) Jason Stell