Nota Bene presents: Gloria and Bach

GLORIA combines the reflection on Christ’s suffering that precedes Easter Sunday with the exultation of the Resurrection. It also brings together two Baroque masterpieces which feature (unusually) a single oboe and single trumpet, leading to the partnership between Nota Bene and period instrument orchestra The Queen’s Closet.

Bach’s Cantata 12 (‘Weeping, lamentation, worry, despair’) was written early in his career—but he was to return to its opening chorus for the Crucifixus in the B Minor Mass. This early version is more
extended and profoundly expressive. In one aria, Bach has solo trumpet playing the chorale tune ‘Jesu, meine Freude’ – the same chorale that forms the basis of the motet included in this programme. The motet, ‘Jesu, meine Freude’, while written as funeral music, embodies Lutheran joy in the prospect of
eternal happiness in heaven. It is virtuosic choral music.

Vivaldi spent much of his career at the Ospedale della Pietà, an institution in Venice devoted to bringing up orphaned (or abandoned) girls, who received a first-class education in music. Travellers from all over Europe would go to the Pietà to hear them sing and play. Choirs have been rediscovering the special luminosity given by performing works like the Vivaldi Gloria with the colours and characters of period instruments.

This is a journey of exploration for Nota Bene—one we know will reward singers, players and audience alike.

Wellington chamber choir Nota Bene has forged a reputation for its innovative programming and high performance standards. The Queen’s Closet has been making a mark on the Wellington music scene, described as 'one of the most innovative, interesting and skilled period instrument groups currently working in Aotearoa'.

Conductor: Peter Walls
Soloists: Nicola Holt, soprano; Maaike Christie-Beekman, mezzo;
John Beaglehole, tenor; David Morriss, bass