Right at the very beginning of Bach's oeuvre is a pastoral masterpiece: "Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit" (God's time is the very best time) already boasts astonishing musical and theological depth. Where did Bach get the tools for this early perfection? How did his ability to accurately symbolise theological matters in music develop? A look at the music of his contemporaries and his later cantatas opens up a horizon.
The minimal instrumentation of the Bach Collegium Augsburg with only one musician per part ensures a highly personalised sound in the sense of individualising each voice. An outstanding team of singers, who are not only musically versed in historically informed performance practice but also very close to the theological level, perform together with specialists for early instruments. The programme of the Bach Collegium Augsburg is to convey music AND theology as vividly as possible.
