Upper Austrian Abbey Concerts: Closing matinee with the Collegium 1704

Domenico Scarlatti
Stabat mater à 10

Johann Sebastian Bach
Motet "Come, Jesu come"

Jan Dismas Zelenka
Selection from Responsoria pro hebdomada sancta

Johann Sebastian Bach
Motet "Sing unto the Lord a new song"

Collegium 1704 under the direction of Václav Luks makes its long-awaited debut at the OÖ. Stiftskonzerte - and in a perfectly fitting concert venue. Four extraordinary works will be performed in the baroque marble hall of St. Florian Abbey, whose splendor and acoustics are perfectly suited to the music of the 18th century.

It begins with Domenico Scarlatti's "Stabat Mater", which impressively sets Mary's grief under the cross to music with its delicate harmonies and changing melodies. With "Komm, Jesu komm", Johann Sebastian Bach unfolds a moving plea for consolation and redemption, set to music in a haunting and artfully crafted double chorale. In contrast to this is his motet "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied", a work full of liveliness and festive joy, which makes the full beauty of praise audible with its dance-like rhythms and polyphonic textures. Between the two Bach motets, a selection from Jan Dismas Zelenka's "Responsoria pro hebdomada sancta" can be heard. For Václav Luks, Zelenka is not only the greatest Czech Baroque composer, but also "one of the most remarkable and original personalities in the history of music. His music combines elements of the stile antico, inspired by Palestrina's counterpoint, with an absolutely visionary conception of musical form and harmony that goes beyond the usual harmonic imagination of the High Baroque. All this is combined with an unusual emotional intensity of expression. Absolutely captivating music that never ceases to fascinate me."

Join the Collegium 1704 in the wonderful setting of the final matinee of the OÖ. Stiftskonzerte 2025 - a concert full of virtuosity, emotion and historical splendor of sound.