AllMovie

A sweeping and ambitious event that was mounted to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) began in 1999. Late that year, two musical ensembles - The English Baroque Soloists and The Monteverdi Choir - teamed up with maestro John Eliot Gardiner, and attempted a musical first: they sought to perform every church composer authored by Bach, under the title "The Bach Cantata Pilgrimage." First on the agenda were three concerts in Weimar's Herderkirche, held in December of '99, that included a rendition of BWV 63 Christen, ätzet diesen Tag. This release observes Gardiner rehearsing with the said ensembles for the performance of that composition.