Word: emmanuele
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Since 1970, the choir at Emmanuel has performed one of Bach's cantatas every Sunday during the academic year, free of charge. Within the luminous sanctuary of this 18th century Gothic church, the sacred music of Bach as well as Schutz and other composers, is sung, fiddled and drummed as sacred music was intended--during a service of worship. Not to mention that the music is exquisitely performed by a full orchestra and professional singers, many of whom have gone on to fame...
These cantatas were performed weekly while he served as Kapellmeister at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Emmanuel Church, located at 15 Newbury St., is the only place in the world where the cantatas are performed on a weekly basis as part of a religious service...
...enormous success of the cantata series started as a grassroots student endeavor. Craig Smith took over as music director at Emmanuel in 1970, while still a piano student under Russell Sherman at the New England Conservatory. The church's choir director became ill and Smith was asked to temporarily fill in. He notes, "I sort of started one week and never stopped." At the beginning of his tenure, Smith decided to incorporate the performance of Bach's cantatas, which he loved passionately, into the liturgy...
Lenny Matczynski, executive director of Emmanuel Music, says, "When we started, we were all hippies. Back then it was radical to go into a church service." Matczynski believes that the power of the cantata series comes from the focus on one musical form; the musicians are able to exercise "sheer tenacity and determination" in order to explore the artistry of sacred music in depth...
...Emmanuel congregation and occasional visitors are wildly enthusiastic about Bach. This is the common thread that binds the community together, even more than the Episcopal faith observed here, as many members are Catholic, Jewish and atheists. Susan Zawalich, Administator of Dudley House and former administrator of Emmanuel Church, says that "the Bach cantata series is the touchstone for the rest of the music programs there, the generator of the church's activities...