Having recorded the complete motets composed by the ancestors of Johann Sebastian Bach, Vox Luminis now tackles their complete spiritual concerts and sacred cantatas, in...

Having recorded the complete motets composed by the ancestors of Johann Sebastian Bach, Vox Luminis now tackles their complete spiritual concerts and sacred cantatas, in which the instruments – particularly the strings – play a highly important role. In the cantata for the Feast of St Michael the Archangel by Johann Christoph Bach, trumpets and drums are enlisted to evoke the battle of the archangels in heaven. To round off this programme, Vox Luminis presents the cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden by Johann Sebastian Bach, in its original version dating from his Arnstadt period, containing copious elements linking it to the music of his forebears. Vox Luminis is a Belgian early music ensemble created in 2004 by its artistic director Lionel Meunier. Today, the ensemble performs over 60 concerts a year, appearing on stages in Belgium, across Europe and around the world. The size and composition of the group depends on the repertoire being performed but the core of soloists, mostly from the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, is joined by a continuo and additional (orchestral) instrument performers. Its repertoire is essentially Italian, English and German and spans from the 16th to the 18th century.