All Souls’ Day

Annually on All Souls’ Day, the Bach Association commemorates the departed with the most beautiful baroque music. Conductor Lionel Meunier – artistic director of the lauded Belgian vocal ensemble Vox Luminis – chose gems by Purcell, Morley, Fux, and Johann Christoph Bach, written for royal funerals. Beautiful, soothing, spiritual music to remember those who have passed. Every religion has its own way of dealing with death. Lionel Meunier combines the Anglican, Catholic and Protestant perspectives on parting in this programme. We hear the dignified English funeral music of Purcell and Morley, written on the passing of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary, and the hopeful compositions of Bach’s great-uncle, Johann Christoph Bach. Johann Fux composed his poignant Kaiser Requiem in memory of the late Empress Eleonora von Neuburg.