NDR Vokalensemble / Heide Müller

• Concerts

Jubilant choirs in high church halls, hardly anything reminds us more vividly of the deeper meaning of Christmas: the birth of a child and the promise of a happy future. And so the NDR Vokalensemble groups its Christmas concert around Johann Sebastian Bach’s motto »Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied«. Bach has two choirs compete with each other in the praise of God. And the magnificent final fugue »Alles was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn« with its virtuoso colouratura really hardly gives the singers a chance to catch their breath.



Under the direction of Heide Müller, an up-and-coming young conductor who has already conducted leading ensembles such as The Norwegian Soloists Choir and Cappella Amsterdam, the NDR Vokalensemble presents works by Bach as well as compositions by Francois Poulenc. Connoisseurs claim that it is not his operas but his sacred works that are the best that this devout Catholic ever wrote. After all, the French composer often modelled his rich harmonic modulations on Bach. Poulenc had studied Bach’s vocal works as a young man and emphasised: »This work made me passionate and had a decisive influence on me.«

PERFORMERS

NDR Vokalensemble choir

Heide Müller conductor

PROGRAM

Werke und Bearbeitungen von Johann Sebastian Bach, Francis Poulenc u.a.