Bach's motets are among the best in his vocal oeuvre. Although one might just as well think that he invented this music to disrupt the human voice, the different lines are sometimes worked out in such a stubborn instrumental way. However, the effect on the listener is overwhelming. Mozart had a say: the exuberantly festive motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied struck him like a hammer when he attended
… a performance in Leipzig in 1789. At the time, this repertoire must have been hardly known outside that region, which is why Mozart probably never heard of such allure. John Eliot Gardiner used to be there: as a boy he sang all the soprano parts. Gardiner gives very compelling performances of the motets here, maybe even a little too compelling here and there. The Monteverdi Choir can handle Gardiner's extreme tempi effortlessly, but because of the enormous speed the music sometimes comes across as a bit lame. Gardiner's explanations for this publication are also very beautiful, with beautiful anthropological interpretations of the dance. (HJ)more
