LEIPZIG — Germany, known as the land of poets and thinkers, is also the land of musicians — Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, to mention the most famous.
This year, the city of Leipzig paid homage to Johann Sebastian Bach, on the 300th anniversary of his arrival as cantor and music director. In May 1723, at the age of 38, Bach began his activity in Leipzig as choirmaster for the Thomanerchor, that has continued to the present day as a world class boys’ choir. During the 27 years he worked there until his death in 1750, Bach composed cantatas, in the first years virtually one per week, to be sung as part of the Sunday mass, as well as numerous other works.
To celebrate the anniversary this year, a Bach festival, “Bach for Future,” took place, from June 8 to 18, with 160 events featuring musicians from around the world, and drawing a record crowd of 70,000 guests. Among the celebrated performers were the Little Singers of Armenia, the famous choir directed by Tigran Hekekyan. They offered three concerts: on June 9 in the Old City Hall, they performed works by Armenian composers R. Petrosyan and Komitas, as well as classical German artists Franz Schubert, Georg Händel, J.S. Bach, and modern Americans like George Gershwin.
The following evening, they sang in the Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal), a monument dedicated to the battle in mid-October 1813, which led to the victory of Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Sweden over Napoleon.
Their a cappella concert featured M. Duruflé’s Tota pulchra es, op. 10, Nr. 2, J.S. Bach’s Suscepit Israel from the Magnificat, and works by Armenian composers. On June 12 they performed in the famous St. Thomas Church (Thomaskirche), which is home of the Thomanerchor, founded in 1212. There they sang a Matins with works by N. Shnorhali, M. Mashtots, W. Byrd, J.S. Bach, Komitas, and H. Odznetsi.
All their concerts were greeted with enormous admiration and enthusiasm. Writing in a guest book in German, Armenian, Italian, and English, participants said that they were “overwhelmed by the skill” and could see clearly that the choir members “really enjoy singing.” Someone from the municipality of Città Vecchia thought the performance was “virtually perfect,” and Hekekyan’s conducting “extraordinary.” One German, who also sings in a chorus and “can judge how fantastic” they are, was moved to tears. Another person wrote the experience would “remain with me for the rest of my life,” and at the final concert, a few members of the Zürich Bach Choir wrote, “You sound like heavenly angels.”