Holland Bach Society brings composer's lesser-known sacred music to local audience

HOLLAND — The Holland Bach Society, a musical project led by Scott Vanden Berg, is seeking to bring the sacred compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach to more audiences in the Holland area.

Bach, widely considered one of the greatest composers in history, needs no introduction — most people have heard something from the composer's oeuvre: whether it's Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, Air on the G String, the Brandenburg Concertos or his Well-Tempered Clavier and Goldberg Variations for piano.

But Vanden Berg said some of Bach's greatest music — hundreds of compositions written for church services, many during his time in the employ of a church in Leipzig, Germany — is lesser-known and less-often performed. About 75 percent of Bach's music was written for use in worship.

Vanden Berg is seeking to change that, performing the composer's cantatas, which are vocal works with orchestral accompaniment, in local churches with a group of about 30 professional musicians from the area.

The group's performances are incorporated into the Sunday worship service of the host church, blending the church's existing worship with elements of early 18th-century liturgical practices.

"Just by nature these works are designed to be in a church service," Vanden Berg said. "Maybe when you pull them out of a church and into a concert hall, something's lost.

"His cantatas were really tied to the Biblical stories that they were about, so they naturally work really well if they follow the Scripture readings. In Bach's day, you would have heard the Scripture reading, the cantata, and then a sermon on the same passage. They all interplay to create a really powerful message."

Bach's sacred music can be both a musical and a theological experience for Christians, Vanden Berg said, transporting them back to Christian worship of another era to learn how their predecessors worshipped and how they viewed their God.

Upcoming performances are at 10:30 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 21, at Fourteenth Street Christian Reformed Church, 14 W. 14th St., Holland, and at 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21 at Central Avenue Christian Reformed Church, 259 Central Ave., Holland. All are welcome.

Kristin Goodyke is director of operations for the Holland Bach Society, assisting Vanden Berg, who is also the director of instrumental music at Holland Christian High School, with administrative needs. Goodyke is organist and co-director of music at Second Reformed Church in Zeeland, where the group had its first performance Nov. 14.

Many of the musicians are drawn from the Holland Symphony Orchestra and Holland Chorale. Hope College professor Eric Reyes loaned the Society a harpsichord for use in the performances.

Bach composed about 300 cantatas, at one point composing one each week for his Leipzig church. About 200 survive today — so the Holland Bach Society has plenty of material for future performances.

The group will evaluate the success of its inaugural performances this month, its funding opportunities and decide what comes next. Vanden Berg hopes churches and donors are interested in supporting the Society in at least annual performances of Bach's works.

"We want to highlight what I believe is extraordinary music that was tied to worship and a community of faith and highlight both the musical and theological through the works of Bach. That would be our goal."

Learn more at hollandbachsociety.org.

— Contact reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @cjmuyskens.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland Bach Society bringing Bach's sacred music to new audiences