Die Wege Bachs - Pygmalion - 1685-Geburtsjahr von drei Genies

In the organizer's words:

Invitation to a walk to Lüne Monastery together with the musicians. Meeting point is 15:30 in front of St. Michaelis. After the concert, the ensemble invites all visitors to join them for a snack.

Three important composers in European music history were born in 1685: Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Händel and Domenico Scarlatti. Even though they were born in the same year, they took very different paths and each shaped the musical landscape of a still young Europe. This concert juxtaposes the Italian splendor of Handel's Dixit Dominus, the Protestant intimacy of Bach and the Mediterranean expressiveness of Scarlatti's ten-part Stabat Mater , offering a contrasting insight into the great richness of Baroque music on the threshold of the 18th century.

Program:
Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata BWV 12 " Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen "
Domenico Scarlatti: Stabat Mater
Georg Friedrich Haendel: Dixit Dominus

This concert is part of the festival Die Wege Bachs, which takes place from 23-25.05.2026 in Lüneburg and is organized by the Kulturforum Lüneburg in cooperation with Pygmalion and ensemble reflektor.

About The Ways of Bach
In 1705, Johann Sebastian Bach was twenty years old. As a young organist from a modest background, he wanted to perfect his musical education - and so he set off from Arnstadt to Lübeck to meet the composer Dietrich Buxtehude, an undisputed master of his craft. Few details are known about his journey of more than 400 kilometers, which must have been partly on foot along the Roman salt road. For Bach, however, it represented a personal and artistic awakening that would shape his entire future work. Pygmalion was founded in 2006 by Raphaël Pichon. To mark its 20th anniversary, the French ensemble Pygmalion is undertaking a similarly formative journey, partly on foot, which includes concerts as well as encounter projects. The Ways of Bach was accompanied by ARTE Concert and France Musique in 2024. Join us on the last leg of our journey!

Pygmalion Choir & Orchestra
Founded in 2006 by Raphaël Pichon, Pygmalion is made up of singers and instrumentalists who perform on period instruments. The ensemble focuses on tracing musical connections between composers, for example Bach's legacy with Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy or the proximity of Heinrich Schütz and Johannes Brahms. The ensemble regularly performs concerts and opera productions in the most prestigious concert halls in France and internationally, and its numerous recordings are released by harmonia mundi. Recent releases include Bach's motets, St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion, the album Mein Traum with baritone Stéphane Degout, Monteverdi's Vespro della Beate Vergine and a Bach-Händel album with Sabine Devieilhe.