#31 Voces Suaves & Gli Incogniti: Membra Jesu Nostri

Cooperation with the International Bach Festival Stuttgart 2026 as part of the Hour of Church Music

Dieterich Buxtehude Membra Jesu Nostri - Sonata a 3 in G major - Sonata in A minor

Extraordinary Passion music: the theme of Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri is not the chronology of Christ's suffering, but rather, as in a seven-part altarpiece, our attention is drawn to the individual limbs of Jesus, from his feet to his heart and face. By combining biblical texts and medieval poetry, Buxtehude awakens our empathy and shows us that love and devotion are greater and stronger than death. Musically, the composer achieves this so convincingly through a clever sequence of instrumental symphonies, choral movements and short solo arias that the young Bach wandered from Arnstadt to Lübeck to learn from this art.