What vocal traditions did Bach absorb from his ancestors, predecessors, and models? This year’s Vocal Polyphony program—devised by Bach scholar Dr. Daniel R. Melamed—offers a rewarding perspective into the music that shaped Bach’s creative environment. Featuring motets and liturgical works for four to eight voices from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, this program surveys the vocal traditions Bach inherited from the musical past. These works reveal a lineage of expressive craftsmanship and devotional fervor that would resonate variously throughout Bach’s own writing.

A group of eight singers from the Washington Bach Consort, joined by organ and violone, bring this broad-ranging repertoire to life. Music by Palestrina, Gallus, Andrea Gabrieli, Bernhard, Schütz, Walter, Knüpfer, Johann Christoph Bach, and Johann Ludwig Bach showcases the breadth and refinement of the polyphonic heritage Bach himself received.