As part of In search of Bach, a musical epic in the footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach (May 20-May 30, 2026)
The final episode of this epic journey will take place on the Baltic coast, in the city of Lübeck, the destination of J.S. Bach’s journey in 1705. After crossing Lake Ratzeburg by boat, the troupe will make a final 20 km walk to enter the former capital of the Hanseatic League on foot. We’ll set up in St. Jacobi Church, where Dietrich Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri will be performed and filmed.
Composed in 1680 based on a medieval text by Arnaud de Louvain, Dietrich Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu nostri is a cycle of seven cantatas dedicated to the body of Christ on the cross. Unique in the 17th-century repertoire, the work is distinguished by its writing style, which is both stripped down and highly theatrical: each cantata meditates on one of the wounds of the crucified Christ, progressing from the feet to the face, and places the listener at the foot of the cross, in direct relation to the suffering Christ.
The Membra Jesu nostri, invite us to contemplation and reflection, and are thus part of the Lutheran spirituality of the post-Thirty Years’ War period, when music became an opportunity for an experience of the sacred that was both individual and deeply embodied.
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