BachBeat

Notes from Bach Cantata Choir

Ralph Nelson, Artistic Director

October 2026– Vol. 19, No. 1

Location

Rose City Park Presbyterian Church 

(NE 44th and Sandy Blvd)

1907 NE 45th Ave, Portland OR 97213 (office)

~ Tickets are NOT required for this concert ~

Free-will offerings gratefully accepted.

Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)

The concert will begin with Cantate Domino (Sing to the Lord) by Heinrich Schütz. Considered the greatest German composer prior to J.S. Bach, Schütz was born 100 years earlier than Bach. He had studied in Venice with Giovanni Gabrieli and heard firsthand the music of Monteverdi. Bach spent much time studying Schütz's works, bringing into the baroque era the strengths of the earlier Italian composers. The choir will take this piece on tour to Germany in June 2027.

Discovery Series Composer

Manoel Dias De Oliveira (1735-1813)

Angelus Domini

We continue with our Discovery Series, recognizing that composers in other lands were also creating their own great music. Brazilian composer Manoel Dias de Oliveira was an organist and a well-known composer of his time. Sources differ, but he was likely the son of an organist (of the same name) and a slave woman. Like his father, the composer was a soldier as well as a musician. The population of his region of Brazil was highly affected by the discovery of gold. Oliveira, who was of mixed race, knew and understood the non-European populations of the region, and the sound of their various cultures can be heard in this lively work Angelus Domini.

Click here for more information. Download as needed.

Georg F. Handel (1685-1759)

From Handel to Highclere

The Chandos Anthems are a set of 11 works for church services. They are so named because they were composed while Handel was employed by a gentleman with the aristocratic title "Duke of Chandos." The Duke's home, under construction during Handel's time there (1717-18), was called Cannon, so some works from that time may carry the label of Cannons or Canons (an ecclesiastical term, nothing to do with military or music).

Careful listeners will recognize Handel's fondness for word painting, and will also note similarities with Handel's most famous work "Messiah" which was composed much later (1741). In that same year, one Henry Herbert was born. While aristocratic titles are beyond the scope of the BachBeat, Herbert was known at one point as Baron Porchester* (also Portchester). In 1793 he became the First Earl of Carnarvon. Today the Eighth Earl of Carnarvon occupies Highclere Castle, better known to many as Downton Abbey.

*See also: Carnarvon connection to Queen Elizabeth II.

Soloists: Sheryl Wood, Soprano; Rachel Mast Mohr, Alto; Brandon Michael, Tenor; Kevin Helppie, Bass

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens, BWV 148

(Bring to the Lord the Honor of His Name)

Bach composed this church cantata for the 17th Sunday after Trinity. Scholars have placed it in his early Leipzig years, either in 1723 or 1725 (when the lyrics were first published).

The theme of the opening sinfonia is heard again in fugal form in the first choral movement, sung by the SATB choir while the trumpet joins as a fifth voice. Concertmaster Mary Rowell has a significant violin solo in the second movement (tenor aria). Oboes accompany the alto soloist in her recitative.

We cannot be sure what lyrics were intended for the concluding chorale, as there is no written record of that. However, the tune was familiar to the Leipzig congregations and there are various texts that can fit with the meter. The audience will be invited to sing the chorale in English after the choir sings the German.

Soloists: Scot Crandall, Tenor; Rachel Mast Mohr, Alto; Mary Rowell, violin

Craft & Bake Sale

After the October concert, please stop by the choir's Craft & Bake Sale in the Fellowship Hall. Baked goods, craft items, and gift baskets will be available for sale. Items are donated by choir members who are also talented bakers and crafters.

American Bach Society

Artistic Director Ralph Nelson recently attended the biennial meeting of the American Bach Society, held in Cleveland, along with other conductors and many of the well-known names in the Bach world. Participants included two of the guest lecturers we have hosted in Portland (Daniel Melamed and Michael Marissen). They send their greetings to Bach Cantata Choir members and friends. Michael Maul, musicologist and artistic director of the Leipzig Bach Festival, participated online from Germany. More information here.

Save the Dates

• Sunday, December 20 at 2:00 pm (Baroque Holiday Concert). Please note that the holiday concert moves to Sunday afternoon this year, rather than on a Friday evening. We hope the daytime concert will be more convenient for many in our audience.

• Sunday, April 11, 2027 at 2:00 pm. Bach's choral masterpiece, the St. Matthew Passion.

Click here to view all the concerts for this season.

Tickets for special concerts

There are two concerts for which tickets will be required this season. One is the Baroque Holiday Concert on December 20, 2026, and the other is the St. Matthew Passion on April 11, 2027. Each concert is $40 general admission. (This includes the pre-concert lecture for the St. Matthew Passion.) Tickets for both concerts are available online now: Baroque Holiday Concert and St. Matthew Passion.

Closer to the concert dates, you may also purchase paper tickets from choir members, with no online processing fee.

Find us on Instagram!

The choir now has a presence on Instagram as well as on Facebook:

instagram.com/bachcantatachoir

https://www.facebook.com/BachCantataChoir

The Bach Cantata Choir's mission is to sing the entire set of cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach over a period of 30 years. The Bach Cantata Choir is a legally organized non-profit corporation under Oregon law, and is a registered 501(c)(3) corporation with the IRS. Donations to the choir are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law and regulation.

The BachBeat newsletter is published cyclically by the Bach Cantata Choir. 

Emily Rampton, Writer and Editor