German & Italian Baroque Choral Music

24.06.18 Argonne – Rue Vanderstraeten 33, 1000 Bruxelles

The concert explores sacred masterworks from the German and Italian Baroque, a time when composers sought new ways to give voice to faith, sorrow, and consolation through music.

Antonio Lotti’s famous Crucifixus a 8 voci opens with striking dissonances and rich counterpoint, evoking the weight of Christ’s Passion. From Italy, we also hear Alessandro Scarlatti’s luminous Justitiae Domini, celebrating divine justice, alongside the serene and contemplative O sacrum convivium, traditionally attributed to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi.

In Germany, Heinrich Schütz — often called the “father of German music” — conveys direct emotional depth in Ehre sei dir, Christe. His contemporary Johann Hermann Schein, a central figure in the early Baroque, offers two contrasting works: Die mit Tränen säen, which transforms sorrow into joy, and Da Jakob vollendet hatte, a tender funeral motet. The program closes with Johann Christoph Bach’s Der Mensch, vom Weibe geboren, a profound meditation on human frailty, mortality, and hope.

Together, these works form a journey through grief and redemption, revealing the expressive power of Baroque sacred music to bridge human suffering and divine promise.