Concertfoto Nederlandse Bachvereniging_©MariekeWijntjes

All Souls' concert - The sound of silence

Netherlands Bach Society

Classical music & Opera Early music Vocal Language no problem

Sat 31 oct. 2026 - 19:30 hour
Theater Heerlen - Limburgzaal

€ 23,00 - € 37,50

out of 5 stars John Cage

"The piece is not actually silent (there will never be silence until death comes, which never comes); it is full of sound, but sounds that I did not think of beforehand, that I hear for the first time at the same time as others."

No tone or harmony sounds too much.

Over 100 years ago, the Nederlandse Bachvereniging first performed Bach's St Matthew Passion in the Grote Kerk in Naarden. A tradition was born. At PLT, the ensemble with an amazing cast of soloists gives shape to another tradition; that of All Souls' Day.

Death is silence. And yet it is precisely death and impermanence that inspired early Baroque composers such as Johann Schelle, Sebastian Knüpfer and Dietrich Buxtehude to write their most beautiful and moving music. In this All Souls' Concert, the recurring chorale melodies in the works of these predecessors of Bach are woven into one emotional reflection on death. And then it becomes palpable that silence is also sound. John Cage's minimalist music demonstrates this. No tone, no harmony sounds too much, culminating in his famous composition 4'33''. Here, only silence seems to sound.

Ensembleportret_NederlandseBachvereniging_HR©SimonVanBoxtel

Programme

Johann Kuhnau: Gott, sei mir gnädig nach deiner Güte
Johann Rosenmüller: Sinfonia Undecima à 5,
Sinfonia Quarta a 5
Johann Schelle: Herr, lehre uns bedenken
Christus, ist des Gesetzes Ende
Johann Christoph Bach: Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben, JCB3
Dietrich Buxtehude: Jesu, meines Lebens Leben, BuxWV 62
Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr, BuxWV 41
Sebastian Knüpfer: Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist
John Cage: 4' 33''
Apartment House 1776: Harmony No. 3, Funeral Anthem

Netherlands Bach Society

Johanna Soller, organ and conducting
Dorothee Mields, soprano
William Shelton, alto
Jakob Pilgram, tenor
Felix Schwandtke, bass

All Souls' concert - The sound of silence Netherlands Bach Society