WhoFish - Local Events and Activities

Title:	Registration for CANTATA RETREAT in Leipzig Feb 20-26, 2024
Date:	8/27/2023 - 1/15/2024
Address:	P.O. Box 1605, North Eastham, MA 02651, joan@ArtfulJourneysllc.com
Location:	North Eastham, MA
Hours:	n/a
Cost/Cover:	$2,725 double occupancy, $425 single supplement
Web Page:	http://www.artfuljourneysllc.com/cantata-retreat-24
Contact Info:	joan@ArtfulJourneysllc.com 508-255-7907

Details:

Bach was an absolute genius: during his first three years as kapellmeister in Leipzig, he wrote 150 cantatas, basically one cantata every week to be sung in church. It is difficult to comprehend such a prodigious creator. He wrote other music, too, that wasn't necessarily for church use: wedding and funeral masses, etudes and dances for his kids and the Thomanerchor, the passions, and the cantatas that were really little operas, such as the coffee cantata. The depth and range of emotions he evokes in these different forms of music is huge.

The retreat will be focused on the cantatas performed at the February 23, 2024 concert, led by Hermann Max conducting the Rheinische Kantorei. The music to be discussed, sung and then discussed again will be BWV 73 (Herr, wie du willt, so schick's mit mir), BWV 81 (Jesus schlaeft, was soll ich hoffen), BWV 144 (Nimm, was dein ist, und gehe hin) BWV 81 (Erfreute Zeit im neunen Bunde) and BWV 181 (Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister). Our discussions will be led by Miguel Rodé and Michael Maul. We hope also to include one or two of the performers.

Our retreat will begin on the evening of February 2, when we will have a meet & greet and dinner and then an overview of Bach and his cantatas. The next two days, on February 21 and 22, we will meet again each day to discuss two of the cantatas to be sung on the 23rd. (The order of discussion has not yet been established). On the 23rd, Miguel will lead a discussion of the remaining cantata. Then, on this evening, we will listen intently to the performance in the Sankt Nikolai Kirche. The following day we will hold a debriefing discussion to assess expectations versus reality!

During our non-discussion times in Leipzig, we'll visit the Bach Museum, Old City Hall, and perhaps the Mendelssohn Haus. And as Leipzig is the city of music, we hope to include some organ music at one of the churches. An evening at the Gewandhaus will take us to hear Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. Over the weekend, we will take the train to Eisenach, to visit the Bachhaus, where the composer was purportedly born; the Lutherhaus, in commemoration of the 500th year of his hymnal, and to Saint George's church, where Bach's forefathers played the organ and taught young JSB, who was also baptized there.