(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – New York City vocal ensemble Tenet will perform a program of works by J.S. Bach and his predecessors, including Dietrich Buxtehude, at the First Congregational Church on Saturday, May 4, 2013, at 7pm, as part of the Berkshire Bach series.

“Bach and His Predecessors: Choral Works” offers a glimpse of the musically rich world from which Bach emerges. Several notebooks that Bach compiled in his youth attest to the hunger that he showed for learning from earlier composers. Bach drew heavily from a wide variety of inspirations as told in the famous anecdote that Bach took an extended leave in order to visit Buxtehude, the celebrated organist, a few hundred miles away.

Under artistic director Jolle Greenleaf, Tent is winning acclaim for its innovative programming, virtuosic singing and command of repertoire that spans the Middle Ages to the present. Tenet has created winning and acclaimed early German programs featuring works by Bach and his predecessors that offer historical and artistic context for the plethora of works created during the German baroque period.

Tickets are $30 for the general public; students free with ID.  Call 413 528-9277 or visit Berkshire Bach for more info.

THE PROGRAM

Gott hilf mir, Dietrich Buxtehude (c.1637-1707)

Ciaccona from Propitia Sydera, Georg Muffat (1653-1704)

Es steh Gott auf, Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)

O felix jucunditas, Samuel Capricornus (1628-1665)

Ad Latus from Membra Jesu Nostri, Buxtehude

Lobet den Herrn, J.S. Bach

Nach dir Herr (Cantata 150), J.S. Bach

Program will include a special tribute to Simon Wainrib, founder of the Berkshire Bach Society, who passed on March 10, 2013.