Bach Festivals & Cantata Series
Music-at-Hill: Bach Vespers

Name:

Bach Vespers

Location:

London, England

Venues:

St. Anne & St. Agnes Church, Gresham Street, EC2V London (1982-2015)
St. Mary at Hill Church, Lowet Lane, EC3R 8EE London (1976-1997; since 2015)

Years:

Since 1976 (Cantata Series)

Months:

Several concerts along the year

Artistic Director:

Peter Lea-Cox (1976-2004)
Martin Knizia (2004-2015)

Ensembles:

Lecosaldi Ensemble (1976-1997)
The Sweelinck Ensemble (1982-2015)
City Bach Collective (since 2016)

Website:

Music-at-Hill: Bach Vespers
City Bach Collective
St Anne’s Lutheran Church
Bach Vespers at St Anne's [N/A]
Music-at-Hill on Facebook

History & Mission:

In the autumn of 1976, Peter Lea-Cox, organist of St. Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb was appointed organist of St. Mary-at-hill in the City. An administrator with some teaching responsibilities at the Royal Academy of Music, Peter decided to use the church to give his students the opportunity to perform Bach cantatas, preparing the editions himself. The series began on November 11, 1976 with a performance of BWV 38, Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir.
In 1981, Ronald Englund of the Lutheran Church in London based at St. Anne & St. Agnes Church attended one of Peter Lea-Cox’s Bach cantata series performances at St. Mary-at-hill. He invited Peter to repeat it in support of the St. Anne’s Music Society, in the liturgically-appropriated manner that was being practised at an American church at the time (probably Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, New York City). Cantata BWV 161 was duly performed within the Lutheran liturgy as ‘Bach Vespers’ on September 26, 1982.
In this way, the tradition of Bach Vespers was started. Peter Lea-Cox completed a full cycle of all Bach’s cantatas in 1997. He continued to deliver Bach to the Lutheran congregation until 2004 when Martin Knizia was appointed St Anne’s Church cantor. Martin went on to perform Bach’s music in the liturgy, in concerts and in the Bach Festival until leaving in July 2015.
In 2016, the City Bach Collective is the new name for the ever-evolving group of musicians who have been part of one particular, central ribbon of this musical tapestry: the programming of Bach cantatas within the liturgy of Lutheran Bach Vespers with the constant, valued support of St. Anne’s Lutheran Church. You can read more about this history on the About page.

Recent Festivals:

See: St Anne’s Bach Festival

Logo: