Bach Family Motets 14-03-2026 – Photo by Steve Hoskins
Be sure, if you are in the vicinity, not to miss this concert, the like of which has never been performed in this region.
So ends the preview notes on Portsmouth Baroque Choir’s ‘Bach Family Motets’ concert, performed in Portchester Methodist Church on 14 March 2026. It was conducted by Musical Director, Malcolm Keeler, with Peter Gould, organ.
The well-rehearsed programme of nine motets was sung by nearly thirty singers, often in two four-part choirs. All sung in German, the translation appeared in both the comprehensive programme notes and on the church’s overhead screen.
The opening work by J.S. Bach, O Jesu Christ, meins lebens licht, included treble and tenor recorders, competently played by choir members and the sopranos sang the chorale melody with strong, resonant tone.
The following motet by Johann Bach, Sey nun wieder zufrieden, featured two choirs of higher and lower voices, offering a ‘stereo’ effect, after the Venetian style. It showed the strength of all four parts of the choir.
Peter Gould has played hundreds of organs in his time and was able to make the Portchester organ sound its very best in his solos.
All four parts of the choir demonstrated well-controlled dynamics and excellent balance, especially in motet BWV 231, Sei lob und preis mit ehren.
The sombre motet Furchte dich nicht by J.C. Bach had three-part sections without sopranos, who sang the chorale melody in the second half in confident style.
Whilst Malcolm Keeler ‘pulled out all the stops’ on the organ for BWV 545, the screen showed a map of Leipzig in 1720, pointing out St. Thomas Church.
Before the interval, the singers again formed a double choir in Der Geist hilft.
The major work [of the second half] was Jesu, meine Freude, with its eleven sections, consisting of chorales, trios and a double fugue. In the second section, the dramatic rests and breaks in the music were well-handled, with clear direction from the conductor. The dramatic fifth part was performed with energy, whilst the double fugue included well-handled runs in all parts. Section eight was a trio for the lower parts, performed with a refreshingly light touch. The choir declaimed the words of the tenth section with confidence.
The singers had a well-deserved rest whilst Peter Gould played BWV 552, which featured the hymn-tune, St. Anne. During this piece, a picture of the Sauer organ of 1908 in St. Thomas, Leipzig was shown.
J. M. Bach’s motet for six voices Sei, lieber tag, willkommen contrasts different combinations, all handled with aplomb, especially the bouncy rhythms of the end section.
The penultimate motet, Ich lasse dich nicht BWV 1164, was for eight voices in double choir formation and the evening ended with the joyful Lobet den herrn BWV 230, a setting of Psalm 117.
All members of the choir should be proud that they performed this demanding programme with such commitment and their director is to be congratulated on putting together and delivering such an original evening.
I, for one, was pleased that I was ‘in the vicinity and did not miss’ this enjoyable and memorable evening.
Geoff Porter