Franz Hauk - Mayr: I Cherusci (2019)

Shortly after taking up the position of Thomaskantor in Leipzig in 1723, Bach wrote a Magnificat in E flat major for performance at Christmas. Around a decade later he revised the work, transposing it down to D major and making it more concise. Utilising a Biblical text, the piece is suffused with a series of memorable arias and choruses and orchestrated with spectacular grandeur. Lumen is a contemporary musical dialogue that urges empathy between the three Abrahamic religions. Translating the oratorio form into a unity of diversity, Robert M. Helmschrott has converted the poetry of the Old and New Testaments, the Torah and Quran into an interfaith language of sounds and singing.