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About This Concert

Bach Akademie Charlotte opens its third season in homage to the Class of '85. Both born in 1685, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach in central Germany, and that of the Italian-born Domenico Scarlatti in Spain, represents a zenith in compositional style.

One hundred years earlier, Heinrich Schütz—the towering compositional giant of the 17th century—took up the mantle of the trailblazing Claudio Monteverdi and set the course for the extraordinary music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Our program features two rarely heard masterpieces—Scarlatti's Stabat Mater and Schütz’s Musikalische Exquien. Scarlatti writes for ten virtuoso solo voices in a breathtaking work that captures both the dolor and sorrow of Mary at the foot of the cross, but also demonstrates music’s singular capacity to capture and nourish human emotion.

Heinrich Schütz's Musikalische Exequien might rightly be called the first German Requiem. Its composite texts, drawn from holy scripture, and variety of musical styles earn it a place alongside the Scarlatti as two of the most remarkable architectures in Baroque music.

We pay homage to Schütz’s teacher and compositional forebearer Monteverdi with a movement from his 1610 Vespers. And, of course, we feature Johann Sebastian Bach with his most personal motet, Komm, Jesu, Komm.