All Souls’ Day Nederlandse Bachvereniging

A subdued musical reflection on death and remembrance

The most beautiful and moving music often sounds around the silence of death. For this edition of Allerzielen, artistic director Johanna Soller has chosen works from the early Baroque and by John Cage, including his iconic ‘silent piece’ 4’33”. In addition, the Bachvereniging commemorates the deceased with music by Bach’s predecessors: Johann Schelle, Sebastian Knüpfer and Johann Kuhnau literally preceded Bach in his job as Thomascantor in Leipzig.

Bach learned the art of composition from Johann Rosenmüller and Dietrich Buxtehude. The recurring chorale melodies in their music create one great, hushed reflection on death. In the work of 20th-century composer John Cage (1912-1992), this has been reduced to the extreme: not a single note or harmony too many sounds in his music, culminating in his famous composition 4’33’’. Here, only silence seems to sound.