Bach Cantata and Livery Lunch

The popular September Bach Cantata Concert will take place in the Priory Church of St. Bartholomew-the-Great, West Smithfield, EC1A 7BE. Seats will be reserved for members of the Company and their guests. Please be seated by 12:50 pm. The performance will begin at 1:05 pm, and will be followed by a Livery Club Lunch at The Crypt, 14 Ely Place, EC1N 6RY.

Two of J S Bach’s most beautiful church cantatas (no 132: Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn BWV 132 and no 9: Es ist das Heil uns kommen her BWV 9) adorn this annual celebration, which is a collaboration by the Musicians’ Company with The City Music Society. A consort of baroque specialists from the leading London conservatoires is joined by four outstanding young singers from the Royal College of Music. The concert is directed by Adrian Butterfield, one of the UK’s leading baroque violinists and Director of the Tilford Bach Society. The London Bach Society is also supporting this concert to mark the 70th anniversary of its creation. The Society’s founder, Paul Steinitz, was Director of Music at St. Bartholomew’s, and there is a memorial to him in the Cloister of the church.

The lunch following the concert will be at The Crypt, 14 Ely Place, EC1N 6RY, about 10 minutes’ walk from the concert venue. The Crypt is part of St Etheldreda’s Church, which was the town chapel of the Bishops of Ely from about 1250 to 1570. It is the oldest Catholic church in England and one of only two buildings in London remaining from the reign of Edward I. The church and crypt lay in the extensive grounds of Ely Palace, the venue for a lavish 5-day feast attended by Henry VIII in 1531, although his soon-to-be-divorced wife Catherine dined in separate rooms!

The cost for the 2-course lunch including wine is £55 per person for Members and their guests. Livery Medals may be worn. Please book by Tuesday 6th September, via the Members’ Area of the website.