Bach: Motets - Hilliard Ensemble

A beautiful interpretation of Bach's funeral motets.

Composer: Bach
Repertoire: Motets, BWV225-230
Artists: Hilliard Ensemble
Rating: 5/5

Genre: Vocal
Label: ECM 476 5776

As one of Bach’s cantorial duties,  the composer  had to provide music for funerals.  While most of the time he could rely on a standard collection of funeral motets, a wealthy family could sometimes ask for something new. Several  families did, and the results are the five masterpieces recorded here by the vocal chamber group, the Hilliard Ensemble.  The Ensemble, initially comprising David James, Rogers Covey-Crump, Steven Harrold and Gordon Jones, first recorded Bach’s motets in the 1980s, but with this album  it expands its customary quartet format to incorporate another four voices to form a soloist double choir.  By doing this, the sound is very much as Bach originally intended and the Ensemble gives an excellent interpretation of this sublime music.