In this program, cantoLX and violinist Guido de Neve combine Responsoria pro Hebdomada Sancta, composed by Michael Haydn, with some of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most famous works for solo violin.

The Responsoria pro Hebdomada Sancta by Johann Michael Haydn (younger brother of Joseph Haydn) are part of the tradition of multi-part compositions for the responsibilities of Holy Week, which enjoyed a golden age from the second half of the 16th to the middle of the 17th century, advancing to the forefront of important genres of Catholic church music. In the 18th century, besides J.M. Haydn, also Scarlatti, Jommelli and Zelenka wrote entire compositions of the 27 responsories for the Holy Week.

Haydn composed these Responsoria for the celebrations of the funeral masses in the Salzburg cathedral. These compositions were intended to touch and inspire people to share the suffering of Christ in his Passion.

Alternating with these Responsoria, Guido de Neve will perform the First Sonata in G minor, as well as the Chaconne, which forms the fifth and final movement of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor. Written for solo violin, the Chaconne is one of the longest and most difficult all-solo pieces ever composed for that instrument. Bach’s string compositions, including 3 partitas and 3 sonatas for solo violin, were composed in the late 1710s and early 1720s, while Bach was employed at the court in Köthen, Germany. This was a period of great freedom and creativity for the composer.