Every so often I sing a piece for the first time and wonder how I’ve not even heard it before. This happened at a funeral at church recently, the piece in question being Es ist nun aus mit meinem Leben by Johann Christoph Bach (an uncle and teacher of Johann Sebastian). We sang three verses of this apparently simple but subtly harmonised strophic setting. It has been chosen because the deceased, involved with the financial side of the Monteverdi Choir, had heard it at one of their concerts and earmarked it for his own obsequies. It deserves more outings than I imagine it gets.
The service was very well attended, and this brought the additional challenge of projecting a descant across hundreds of people singing the final verse of a well-known hymn. I’m told that Suzi Digby was there and made appreciative comments afterwards.