Leipzig's Thomanerchor, one of the most revered institutions in Western music, made a rare NYC appearance Tuesday night at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin near Times Square, part of the ongoing White Light Festival. Having seen the Thomanerchor twice previously at the Thomaskirche, where the boys choir has sung motets, hymns, and cantatas every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the past 801 years, I—perhaps more than most—could anticipate what a remarkable musical experience this would be.
The narrow, high-naved Church of St. Mary the Virgin is blessed with the same basic dimensions as the Thomaskirche, providing clear, resonant sound to every seat. It was also a welcome change to have the choir sing from the altar, as opposed to their customary position out of sight in the choir loft. Not to mention, it was nice to have an assigned seat so I didn't have sit on the cold stone floor, as I did in Leipzig.
At the Saturday services in the Thomaskirche, the Thomanerchor typically perform at least one cantata by J.S. Bach, who was Thomaskantor in Leipzig for 27 years and wrote many of his most famous works for this very choir. But for this program the Thomanerchor, led by current Thomaskantor Georg Christoph Biller and joined by the period-instrument Leipzig Baroque Orchestra, sang two Bach cantatas that predated his arrival in Leipzig by nearly 20 years.
Der Herr denket an uns (The Lord thinks of us), written when Bach was 23, was filled with joyous, sunny melodies in celebration of marriage. During one of the cantata's two arias, boy soprano Johannes Hildebrandt—no more than eight years old—sang with such assurance and purity, it felt as if the music was moving through him, without any conscious effort on his part.
The second cantata, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich (For you, Lord, I am longing), was written several years earlier and features a darker, more penetrating sound. Here, too, a boy soprano took center stage, singing with trembling acceptance of "raging storms and other trials" he could expect here on Earth.
The remainder of the program was devoted to the music of Bach's near-contemporary, Antonio Vivaldi. For those who may only know Vivaldi as the composer of The Four Seasons, his sacred music—unearthed in an Italian monastery only in the 1920s—is a revelation, more than holding its own against Bach's better-known examples.
Speculation is that Vivaldi, a priest who served as the director of concert music at a girls' convent in Venice, wrote this sacred music between 1713 and 1719, filling in while the position of choirmaster and director of chapel music was vacant. One can only imagine what Vivaldi might have accomplished had he—like Bach—devoted his career to composing sacred music.
Vivaldi's Magnificat alternated somber choruses and summer-storm-like rage with angelic duets that floated through the nave. The powerful amd radiant Gloria was all sunshine and brilliance, streaked with bursts of pure joy. The Thomanerchor followed with three encores, including Biller's own arrangement of Dona nobis pacem, set to Bach's famous Air on a G String.
But, as unique a privilege as it is to hear Bach's music performed by the choir he once led, Tuesday's concert served as reminder that there is no shortage of remarkable choirs that don't require a passport, including the Thomanerchor's namesake choir of men and boys, who sing several times a week at St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue. New Yorkers that haven't already discovered that remarkable institution should do themselves a favor and attend one of their upcoming holiday programs.
More pics on the photo page.