The Art of Counterpoint: Bach and Zelenka

This program demonstrates the richness of contrapuntal invention from two great High Baroque masters. Working in close proximity to each other – Bach in Leipzig and Zelenka in Dresden, with the capital of Saxony just a hundred kilometers away – Bach and Zelenka knew and admired each other. From their distinctive personalities, they each developed equally intricate and dazzlingly virtuosic styles of counterpoint. 

Our program features some familiar pieces – excerpts from The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Goldberg Variations, for example – in new settings, as we give each of Bach’s voices its own distinct timbre in our mixed-instruments setting. We also highlight excerpts from the sacred works of Zelenka – music which will be new to some listeners, but which come from the same familiar contrapuntal tradition. Finally, counterpoint and virtuosity vie for the upper hand in the solo harpsichord in Bach’s Toccata in D Major (BWV 912), and Zelenka’s expansive G Minor sonata (Z. 181/4) for oboes, bassoon obbligato, and continuo.

Program:

Prelude and Fugue in C major, Wohltemperierte Clavier I (1722)        Johannes Sebastian Bach       
Dona Nobis from Missa Omnium Sanctorum (1741)                           Jan Dismas Zelenka
Contrapuncti I, VIII, and V from Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 (1740–46)    Bach

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Amen from In Exitu Israel ZWV 83 (c.1725)                                       Zelenka
Toccata in D Major BWV 912 (c.1703-07)                                           Bach
Fugue in G minor BWV 542 (c.1720)                                                  Bach

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Trio Sonata IV ZWV 81/4 (1720–22)                                                  Zelenka
Quodlibet, Goldberg Variations BWV 988 (1741)                              Bach