Ensemble La Sportelle joins forces with Les Accents, directed by Thibault Noally, in a programme designed to captivate the listener while bringing its rich historical and spiritual depth to the fore.

The journey begins with the intimacy of the motet, where Johann Michael and Johann Christoph Bach shape silence into music. Here, the Lutheran soul emerges in its most direct form: a dialogue with the unseen, moving between the fervent plea to remain (Ach bleib bei uns) and the serene acceptance of departure (Es ist nun aus). These voices of earlier generations, which Johann Sebastian carefully preserved in his own archives, are not mere sketches for what was to come. They are works of consolation in their own right, in which the discipline of counterpoint becomes the vessel for raw emotion.

The programme comes alive with the almost sensual intensity of the cantata Meine Freundin, du bist schön. Here, the Bach dynasty embraces the lyricism of the Song of Songs, revealing another side of German Lutheran music: one capable of celebrating beauty and desire with radiant fervour. Instrumental works by Ziani and Muffat, meanwhile, form bridges towards Italy and France, reminding us that this musical world was no isolated enclave, but a European crossroads shaped by the currents of the Baroque.

The journey culminates in the celebrated Cantata BWV 150. A youthful work by Johann Sebastian Bach, it bears traces of his predecessors while already pushing beyond established forms. Its final chaconne, built over an ostinato bass and crowned by choruses of extraordinary density, becomes a metaphor for the family’s musical legacy: a perseverance in faith and art, capable of transforming suffering into enduring light.

For Ensemble La Sportelle and Les Accents, bringing this repertoire to life means reconnecting with the spirit of these musician-craftsmen: a pursuit of excellence in which technical mastery — that famous Bachian rigour — ultimately gives way to the imperative to convey a message of peace and transcendence.

I’m interested in the programme

Thibault Noally conductor
Ensemble La Sportelle 13 singers
Les Accents 9 instrumentalists