Sound the Trumpet!

San Francisco Bach Choir Celebrates with Baroque Trumpets

In another of its exciting signature programs of works for multiple choirs, the San Francisco Bach Choir will explore the three highly contrasting musical cultures of Italy, Germany and England during Europe’s middle Baroque period. Featuring the world-class natural trumpet duo of John Thiessen and Barry Bauguess and accompanied by the newly formed San Francisco Bach Choir Consort, the Bach Choir will present elaborate works composed for high festivals and grand occasions by John Blow, Dietrich Buxtehude and Dominico Scarlatti. The Consort will also present the exuberant Vivaldi Concerto for Two Trumpets featuring the virtuoso playing of Mr. Thiessen and Mr. Bauguess.

Included in this dramatic program will be the premiere performance of a work bridging these three musical cultures with a modern look at the Baroque art of antiphonal singing written specifically for the Bach Choir by its director, David P. Babbitt. Infused with his own historical view of the development of the choral art—including Gregorian chant, thirteenth century organum, German chorales and the separate and uniquely English singing heritage—Mr. Babbitt’s work continues the tradition of music for multiple choirs that flourished briefly in post-Reformation Germany and then died out. Written for period instruments, including the celebratory trumpets used throughout the program, Mr. Babbitt brings this legacy into the twenty-first century with a moving Lutheran Mass for two choirs, presented from the opposing balconies of Calvary church.