Bach Lutheran Masses - Part 1

Programm

Part 1 

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Lutheran Mass BWV 234 in A Major

Kyrie

Récit

Gloria

Domine Deus

Qui tollis

Quoniam tu solus sanctus

Cum Sancto Spiritu

Interval

Lutheran Mass BWV 233 in F Major

Kyrie

Gloria

Domine Deus

Qui tollis

Quoniam

Cum Sancto Spiritu

Part 2

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Lutheran Mass BWV 236 in G Major

Kyrie 

Gloria 

Gratias 

Domine Deus 

Quoniam 

Cum Sancto Spiritu 

Interval

Johann Sebastian Bach

Lutheran Mass BWV 235 in G Minor 

Kyrie 

Gloria 

Gratias 

Domine Fili

Qui tollis 

Cum Sancto Spiritu

Artisti

The Excelsior Choir & Consort

Director & Bass soloist - Eamonn Dougan

Soprano soloist - Julia Doyle

Alto soloist - Martha McLorinan

Tenor soloist - Mark Dobell

Violin 1 - Alida Schat 

Violin 2 - Alice Evans

Viola - John Crockatt

Cello - Andrew Skidmore

Double Bass - Zaynab Martin

Organ - Silas Wollston

Flute 1 - Katy Bircher Part 1 only

Flute 2 - Brinley Yare Part 1 only

Oboe 1 - Alexandra Bellamy

Oboe 2 - Sarah Humphries

Bassoon - Sally Jackson

Horn 1 - Peter Moutoussis Part 1 only

Horn 2 - Anna Drysdale Part 1 only

Noti Dwar il-Programm

Johann Sebastian Bach was appointed to the prestigious position of Thomaskantor - Music Director of the St Thomas Choir in Leipzig in 1723 remaining in post until his death in 1750. His duties involved preparing the choir for services in the city's four Lutheran churches, directing music and composing sacred works, including weekly cantatas. 

He composed his four Lutheran Masses, also known as Missa brevis (short Masses) between 1738 and 1739.  These works are settings of just the Kyrie and Gloria sections of the Latin Mass, aligning with the liturgical practices of the Lutheran Church at this time where full Catholic Mass settings were not typically used in worship. 

Rather than being newly composed from start to finish, Bach re-worked many of the movements, (normal practice for composers in the 18th-century), by taking previously written music from a selection of his finest music from his earlier cantatas. 

The results are four remarkable works which up until recently were relatively unfamiliar in comparison to his great B minor mass. Even more rarely heard performed together it is a privilege for us to have the opportunity to perform all four Lutheran Masses in our two concerts for this festival. We have decided to perform them one to a part to display the transparency in Bach’s incredible contrapuntal and melodic workings - allowing the instruments to both star alongside and equally support the vocal lines.

Biographies

Eamonn Dougan, Director & Bass soloist 

Eamonn Dougan is an inspirational communicator with a wide-ranging repertoire and is a renowned vocal coach and baritone.

Eamonn is Associate Conductor of The Sixteen, founding Director of Britten Sinfonia Voices, Music Director of the Thomas Tallis Society and Chief Conductor for Jersey Chamber Orchestra. Alongside Eamonn’s regular conducting, recent highlights include conducting MacMillan’s All the Hills and Vales Along for the Cumnock Tryst’s tenth anniversary Birthday Gala Concert, Chamber Choir Ireland in addition to his directorship of CCI’s training programme CCI Studio and leading a programme for The Song Company on its May/June 2025 Australian tour.

In addition, Eamonn made his debut conducting Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus in Handel Messiah at Royal Festival Hall with a re-invite in December 2025.

Upcoming engagements include his debut conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the Cumnock Tryst, a return to Ars Nova Copenhagen, Sibelius Academy (Helsinki), continuing his series with Jersey Chamber Orchestra and recording with De Profundis on Hyperion.

Eamonn has conducted BBC Singers, Narodowe Forum Muzyki Choir, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid (ORCAM), Irish Baroque Orchestra, Corinthian Chamber Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Trondheim Barokk, Wroclaw Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Orchestra North East and London Chamber Orchestra.

Eamonn is consultant coach for the Royal Academy of Music and a Visiting Professor to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, where he teaches ensemble singing and directs the Guildhall Consort.

Eamonn Dougan is managed worldwide by Percius.

Julia Doyle, Soprano soloist

Born and educated in Lancaster, Julia read Social and Political Sciences alongside a Choral Scholarship at Cambridge.  She made her professional début singing Messiah with the Britten Sinfonia / Polyphony at St John’s Smith Square. Since then, she has performed all over the world and is in demand as one of the world’s leading sopranos for Baroque repertoire.

Recent and future engagements include Mozart Mass in C Minor in Toronto with Tafelmusik, Vivaldi Juditha Triumphans at the Concertgebouw, Palace of Versailles and Theater an der Wien, Handel Aci, Galatea e Polifemo at Halle Handel Festival, various European tours with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra including the BBC Proms,  Monteverdi with La Nuova Musica, Haydn songs with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie under Sir Roger Norrington, St Matthew Passion with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Bach Choir,  recordings and concerts with the J.S. Bach Stiftung, Handel Occasional Oratorio with Bayerische Rundfunk,  Bach arias for voice and violin with Vilde Frang and Arcangelo and the Basel Chamber Orchestra, Messiah with the Gulbankian Orchestra and a European tour of Messiah as well as European tours and recordings with the Rias Kammerchor.  

A busy recitalist she works regularly with lutenist Matthew Wadsworth and their recording of Purcell has been received to critical acclaim.

Martha McLorinan, Alto soloist

Gaining recognition for her interpretation of Bach and her “warm expressivity” (The Guardian), Martha has appeared as a soloist at venues from Zaryadye Concert Hall, Moscow to The Tabernacle, Salt Lake City.

Recent concert highlights include singing Mary Magdalene (Elgar’s The Apostles) at Gloucester Cathedral for the Three Choirs Festival (Philharmonia/Adrian Partington), Mary Wife of Cleophas (Coleridge Taylor’s The Atonement) at Worcester Cathedral (Philharmonia/Samuel Hudson) Bach’s B Minor Mass at KKL Luzern Concert Hall (Gabrieli Consort and players/Paul McCreesh), and Handel’s Messiah at the Elbphilharmonie and

Concertgebouw (Tenebrae and the Academy of Ancient Music/Nigel Short).

Operatic highlights include Sorceress/Second Witch/Spirit in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas for Den Ny Opera with Barokksolistene and her BBC Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall in 2022 singing Second Witch with La Nuova Musica. Other roles include First Witch Dido and Aeneas at Royal Festival Hall (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Roger Norrington), Proserpina and La Messaggera in Monteverdi’s Orfeo at the Cheltenham and

Swidnica festivals (I fagiolini/Robert Hollingworth), The Notary’s Wife, Strauss’ Intermezzo and Lotinka, Dvorak’s The Jacobin (Buxton Festival Opera/Stephen Barlow) and Mrs. Noye, Britten’s Noye’s Fludde for various community projects across the UK.

Her discography includes Judith Bingham’s The Drowned Lovers (Music of the Spheres, Tenebrae/Nigel Short), Byrd 1588: Psalmes, Sonets and Songs of sadnes and pietie (Fretwork/David Skinner) and Garcia’s Missa Pastoril (Ex Cathedra/Jeffrey Skidmore). She recently recorded The Garden Path, a song cycle for mezzo-soprano and string quartet by Alec Roth, which will be released in January 2026.

Mark Dobell, Tenor soloist

Tenor Mark Dobell was a choral scholar at Clare College, Cambridge, where he read Classics. He later studied singing as a postgraduate at the Royal Academy of Music and was awarded the Clifton Prize for the best final recital.

Mark has worked as a soloist all over the world with renowned conductors including Harry Christophers, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Sir Roger Norrington. He is known for his intelligent and stylistic interpretation, as well as his versatility, with a repertoire stretching from Machaut to Howard Goodall and encompassing the many centuries in between.

Career highlights include performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers in Boston and New York for the Handel and Haydn Society; Handel’s Israel In Egypt in Hong Kong for the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Handel’s Messiah at the Palace of Versailles. Recent standout performances include MacMillan’s Stabat Mater in the Sistine Chapel and New York’s Lincoln Center and the world premiere of MacMillan’s Symphony no.5 - Le Grand Inconnu at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh.

When not performing as a soloist, Mark enjoys a busy schedule with many leading British choirs and consorts. He is proud to be a long-standing member of The Sixteen and was a member of the Orlando Consort for over twenty years. He has also been a member of the choir of Westminster Abbey since 2006, where he has taken part in numerous high profile state occasions, most recently the Coronation of Their Majesties the King and Queen.

The Excelsior Choir and Consort 

The Excelsior Choir and Consort was set up in 2025 at the invitation of Kenneth Zammit Tabona, artistic director of the Valletta Baroque festival. Consisting of colleagues who have enjoyed collaborating together for many years in major UK & European baroque ensembles. 

They will aim to explore major religious and secular works within a small scale ensemble. 

Their debut performances will be on the 13th and 14th January 2026 at the Valletta Baroque Festival and will be directed by Eamonn Dougan. They will present a rare opportunity to hear all four Bach Lutheran Masses.