Here was clarity,

precision and

dramatic sweep.

Vincent Plush - The Australian

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The Clare Reformation 500 Project

Date: Sunday 22 January 2017 6.00pm to Sunday 12 March 2017 6.00pm

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On Sunday evenings during Lent Term 2017, Clare College will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with a series of cantatas by J. S. Bach performed liturgically in the College Chapel by the Chapel Choir, under the direction of  Graham Ross, the Director of Music. The acts of worship in Chapel will celebrate and explore the exceptional theological, cultural and spiritual legacies of the European Reformation and Counter Reformation which changed the face of the world. The Choir will be joined by a variety of instrumental ensembles, led by the internationally-celebrated baroque violinist Margaret Faultless, as they perform these cantatas often alongside works related to, or inspired by, the genius of the Cantor of Leipzig. At each service an address will be given by a distinguished preacher, including The Right Revd and Rt Hon The Lord Williams (former Archbishop of Canterbury), Bishop Jana Jeruma-Grinberga (former Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain), The Very Revd John Hall (Dean of Westminster), Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP, and the great Reformation historian Professor Eamon Duffy.
 
The series presents performances of eight Bach cantatas as follows:
 
Sunday 22 January 2017, 6pm
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Experience
Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79 (Cantata for Reformation Sunday)
Lob, Ehr und Preis sei Gott, BWV 192
 
Sunday 29 January 2017, 6pm
Cambridge University Collegium Musicum    
Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit, BWV 111
Monteverdi Beatus vir 
 
Sunday 5 February 2017, 6pm
Cambridge University undergraduate instrumentalists
Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125 (Cantata for the Purification of Mary)
Brahms Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Mühseligen? Op. 74, No. 1
 
Sunday 12 February 2017, 6pm
Clare Baroque
Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn, BWV 92 
 
Sunday 19 February 2017, 6pm
European Union Baroque Orchestra, Jonathan Brown (CL 1993), bass
Ich habe genug, BWV 82 (Cantata for Purification)   
Mendelssohn Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, MVW A 7
 
Sunday 26 February 2017, 6pm
Cambridge University undergraduate instrumentalists (Rachel Stroud, leader)
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150
Vaughan Williams Lord, thou hast been our refuge
 
Sunday 5 March 2017, 6pm
Royal Academy of Music Baroque Soloists 
Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131 
Buxtehude Magnificat
 
Sunday 12 March 2017, 6pm
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Experience
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80 (Cantata for Reformation Sunday)
 
The Choir is joined by period instrumental ensembles Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Experience, European Union Baroque Orchestra, Royal Academy of Music Baroque Soloists, Clare Baroque, with two cantatas performed on modern instruments with undergraduate players from Cambridge University.