Leave the city’s chaos behind when you enter the jewel-box Chapel of All Saints for a 45-minute program of early music. This installment in our Tiny Concerts series features the cantata Mein Freundin, du bist schön, written by Johann Sebastian’s older cousin, Johann Christoph Bach. Most likely performed at the wedding of Johann Sebastian’s brother, the work is a profoundly beautiful setting of love poetry from the Song of Songs — and one example of the prodigious talent that preceded J.S. Bach and ran through generations of the Bach family.
Trinity Choir; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; led by Avi Stein, organ
The Divine Muse series culminates on the eve of Saint Cecilia’s Feast Day, with two master works inspired by the patron saint of music: George Frideric Handel’s Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day Overture and Alessandro Scarlatti’s St. Cecilia Mass. Now rarely heard, the latter piece during its time was considered an equal to Bach’s Magnificat. Trinity’s adaptation by music librarian Harrison E. Joyce adds wind instruments to the original orchestration.
Trinity Choir; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; Melissa Attebury, director
Bach never wrote an opera, but this concert features the closest approximation we have: the exquisite monologues and duets of his cantatas Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust and Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen. Cantata 32 uses the poetry of the Song of Songs to model a dialogue between Jesus, the expression of the divine, and Soul, embodying humanity.
Elisse Albian, soprano; Elisa Sutherland, alto; Enrico Lagasca, bass; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; led by Avi Stein, organ
In his last post as a music director in Leipzig, Bach led a concert series — in a coffeehouse in winter and a beer garden in summer — that featured works like George Frideric Handel’s fiery Concerto in D Minor, as well as such visiting virtuosi as violinist Georg Pisendel, whose arrangement of Jean-Féry Rebel’s Les Caractères de la danse is a medley of popular French dances of the time. Today’s program also includes a suite of opera hits by Jean-Philippe Rameau, and Bach’s own Prelude and Fugue in E Minor.
Trinity Baroque Orchestra; led by Avi Stein, harpsichord
Trinity’s lead organist and prominent early music expert Avi Stein performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto in D Minor, accompanied by members of the Trinity Baroque Orchestra. George Frideric Handel’s Concerto in F Major and Thomas Augustine Arne’s Concerto in G Minor are also on the program.
The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra present Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, a monumental masterpiece dedicated to Mary and considered one of the greatest works of sacred music ever written.
The Choir of Trinity Wall Street; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; led by Avi Stein, organ
“Burning and gladdening, vivid in both darkness and light,” Trinity’s Messiah is “the gold standard” (The New York Times).
Watch this “transcendent and awe-inspiring” performance featuring The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra led by award-winning guest conductor Ryan James Brandau, recorded live in Trinity Church on December 15, 2023.
In a season full of Messiah concerts, Trinity’s is unique — distinctly modern yet authentically performed on period instruments in a sacred and acoustically rich space. A cherished holiday tradition that has captivated audiences since it was first presented by the church in 1770, this is the most historic Messiah in New York City.
Bach at One returns to St. Paul's Chapel on November 8, at 1pm, with The Choir of Trinity Wall Street; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; and Christine Brandes, guest conductor; presenting BWV 47, BWV 230, and BWV 23. Free.
Bach at One returns to St. Paul's Chapel on November 1, at 1pm, with The Choir of Trinity Wall Street; Trinity Baroque Orchestra; and Avi Stein, conductor; presenting BWV 174 and BWV 52. Free.
Handel’s dramatic choral work, Dixit Dominus, will be presented on October 29, at 3pm, in Trinity Church by Trinity’s early music experts: The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and Trinity Baroque Orchestra, under the direction of Avi Stein. Free.
