In various ways

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Sunday, October 28th 2026, 19:00, Kartäuserkirche Basel

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Programm

• Organ Trio Sonata in C major (BWV 529)

• Organ Trio Sonata in E-flat major (BWV 525)

• “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” (from Eighteen Chorales of Various Kinds, BWV 659)

• “Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend” (from Eighteen Chorales of Various Kinds, BWV 655)

• Chorale preludes from the Orgelbüchlein (BWV 615), improvised preludes and interludes

 

Ensemble Ad Fontes: Anne Simone Aeberhard (recorders) – Bruno Hurtado Gosálvez (viol) – Mojca Gal (violin) – Niels Pfeffer (theorbo) – Dirk Börner (harpsichord)

 

To elicit the full expressive potential of chorales and to realize them “in all manner of ways” — from straightforward organ settings to elaborate chorale cantatas — was for Johann Sebastian Bach not merely a demonstration of compositional craftsmanship, but a profound artistic and theological commitment. His oeuvre reflects a lifelong endeavor to render spiritual depth, consolation, and insight perceptible through music.

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Bach emerges as an extraordinary musical intellect, a spiritual architect, and a visionary of sonic form. With the chorale as structural foundation, he constructed expansive musical landscapes — theological reflections and emotional spaces of remarkable complexity and resonance. At the same time, his unfinished work stands as a silent testament to the magnitude of his artistic aspiration: of the 164 chorale preludes planned for the Orgelbüchlein, only 45 were completed.

 

This programme pays tribute to Bach’s legacy while offering a contemporary engagement with his vision. Following the liturgical cycle — from Advent and Christmas through Passiontide, Easter, and Pentecost — it presents Bach’s chorales in diverse realizations: as meditative organ works, in the form of trio sonatas, and within the context of chamber ensemble textures.