Hommage à Jan Dismas Zelenka at The Estates Theatre

Members of the National Theatre Orchestra play chamber compositions by J. D. Zelenka, J. S. Bach and Jaroslav Pelikán.

One of Europe´s major centres of music during the High Baroque period was the Dresden court in the era of the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, Augustus II the Strong. Sometime around 1711, the Dresden court orchestra was joined by a double-bass player from Bohemia, Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679–1745), who soon made a name for himself also as a composer. Zelenka´s output was duly appreciated by the cantor of Saint Thomas´s in nearby Leipzig, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), who also worked for the Dresden court. Zelenka is known chiefly for his production of sacred compositions (oratorios and masses). His Marian antiphon, Salve Regina, ZWV 135, will be performed here by soprano Yukiko Kinjo Šrejmová, who will then also sing J. S. Bach´s cantata Non sa che sia dolore, BWV 209. Of the latter composer´s monumental legacy of over 1,000 works, the programme will likewise feature arguably Bach´s most sophisticated fugue, a six-voice ricercar, from the cycle entitled Musical Offering, in the phenomenal orchestration of Anton Webern (1883–1945). The programme is complemented by the Concerto Grosso for wind and string instruments, by the composer and National Theatre flautist, Jaroslav Pelikán (b. 1970), whose world premiere was performed by the Juventus Collegium FOK ensemble in the Church of Saints Simon and Jude in Prague, on March 10, 2015.