Bach: Musica Sacra

‘I don’t believe in authenticity,’ remarked the conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who died in March 2016. For him, the challenge was to make music ‘in a way that is meaningful in terms of today’s world.’ He made no more significant contribution to the history of recordings than the complete cycle of Bach’s cantatas which is excerpted here, alongside the most dramatic and the most meditative movements from the Passions and the Christmas Oratorio. The late maestro Harnoncourt's quest for truth and beauty in music touched a wide range of repertoire, from Monteverdi to Bruckner and beyond. But there can be no question that the pioneering Austrian conductor made his mark, above all, in Bach. Harnoncourt's recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's sacred music will remain with us always, particularly at Easter time. Next month, on 15 April, Warner Classics will release a double album paying homage to Harnoncourt with some of the finest moments from his St Matthew and St John Passions, as well as the Mass in B Minor, the Magnificat, and the cantatas that he championed in his famed complete cycle. The epoch-defining recordings presented here were recorded between 1968 and 1995. Nikolaus Harnoncourt: Bach Musica Sacra will be released on 15 April.