On 2 March 1714 J.S.Bach was promoted from organist of the ducal court at Weimar to a newly created post of Konzertmeister, and for the first time in his career he had the opportunity to write sacred music regularly for a group of virtuoso singers and instrumentalists.

This concert brings together four great vocal concertos or cantatas written during that momentous year, beginning with ‘Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland’ (2 December), notable for its setting of the Advent chorale as a French overture, and ending with ‘Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen’ (22 April), famous for its profound first chorus, used later by Bach for the Crucifixus of the B minor Mass and by Liszt as the basis of an organ work.

‘Mein Herze schwimmt in Blut’ (12 August), scored for soprano, oboe, strings and continuo, was Bach’s first solo cantata and remained one of his favourite works, to judge from the number of times he reused it later in his career.  ‘Gleich wie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt’, also probably written in 1714, is notable for its exotic scoring, with four violas, bassoon and continuo, and for its dramatic central movement, contrasting expressive solos with statements of the archaic litany.

The concert also includes the lively short motet ‘Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden’, possibly written by Bach at this period.

Daniel Auchincloss and Giles Davies both sang to great acclaim in last year’s Festival, in Purcell’s Indian Queen and Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Poliferno respectively. Claire Tomlin has been singing in Festival concerts since she was a student and makes a welcome return after ‘maternity leave’ last year.