Festival Glasperlenspiel presents:
Sat, August 8th, 2026 at 7 pm, Jämaja church, Kingdom of Torgu, Saaremaa island

“Cardinal’s Concert”
BACH. THE MUSICAL OFFERING

Andres Mustonen – violin
Neeme Punder – flute
Olev Ainomäe – oboe
Peeter Klaas – viola da gamba
Ene Nael – harpsichord

Bach is the end point.
Nothing comes from him, but everything leads to him.
Albert Schweitzer

The Musical Offering (German Musikalisches Opfer, BWV 1079) is a monumental contrapuntal work by Johann Sebastian Bach – or rather a collection of works. It was born in 1747 after a meeting with King Frederick the Great. Bach had been invited to the court in Potsdam by the king, in whose service was also Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel. Frederick played a theme to Bach and asked the composer to improvise a fugue on it. The “Royal Theme” (Thema Regium), with its chromaticism, was quite complex and must have been a true test of mastery for Bach. Who actually composed the Thema regiumis not known for certain. Arnold Schoenberg, for example, believed that only one person at Frederick’s court was capable of it – Carl Philipp Emanuel. In any case, Bach improvised on the spot such a masterly three-part ricercar, or fugue, that the newspapers of the time wrote about the event as a miracle that had surprised even the monarch. Back in Leipzig, Bach worked out, in addition, a six-part ricercar, a whole series of canons (Canon a2 per motum contrarium, Canon a 2 per augmentationem contrario motu, Canon a 2 per tonos, Canon perpetuus, Fuga canonica in Epidiapente, Canon a 2 „Quaerendo invenietis“, Canon a 4, Canon perpetuus contrario motu) and a trio sonata for flute, violin and basso continuo, using the royal theme in every possible way. The flute is given a place of honour, as Frederick II was quite a good flautist. The composer wove mystical and mathematical symbols into the work. For example, he hid in it the acrostic RICERCAR, which is a musical genre and at the same time a reference to the king’s theme: Regis iussu cantio et reliqua canonica arte resoluta (Latin: ‘the melody sung at the king’s command, and the rest resolved according to the art of canon’).
In July 1747 – three years before his death – Bach completed The Musical Offering and dedicated it to the king. The old master was of course aware of the ambiguity of the word “offering” (in German also “sacrifice”). Alongside its direct meaning – “bringing an offering” as a tribute to the king – he probably also had in mind sacrificing himself to Frederick’s cunning provocation. In any case, the dedication contained these words of Bach: “Ich bemerkte aber gar bald, daß wegen des Mangels nötiger Vorbereitung, die Ausführung nicht also geraten wollte, als ein so treffliches Thema erforderte. Ich fasste demnach den Entschluß, und machte mich sogleich anheischig, dieses recht Königliche Thema vollkommener auszuarbeiten, und sodann der Welt bekannt zu machen.”
But why the “Cardinal’s Concert”? Just a few hours after the end of the concert, Rev. Anu Konks will conclude her nearly three-decade-long service as the spiritual leader of the Jämaja Holy Trinity congregation. And… in 2022 His Majesty King Kristian I bestowed on Anu Konks the permanent title of Court Cardinal of the Kingdom of Torgu. May this concert be a thanks and a bow to the venerable pastor and cardinal.
The ensemble’s exceptional line-up also deserves mention – with certain reservations it could be called ex-Hortus-Musicus. Flautist Neeme Punder’s permanent collaboration with Hortusended more than two decades ago, and gambist Peeter Klaas has not played in the ensemble on a daily basis for a long time either. Only for this Jämaja concert do the luminaries come together again to bring to the audience pearls of baroque music that were performed in more or less the same line-up already in the last decade of the previous century.

Kapellmeister of the Royal Court of Torgu
Peeter

Bach. The Musical Offering. Trio Sonata, Allegro, fragment, 3 min, mp3, 320 Kbps
Before the canons, ricercars and trio sonata from the main work, The Musical Offering, are heard, the musicians will perform as an introduction Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonata for flute, violin and basso continuoin G major (BWV 1038) and Siciliano (BWV 1059R), as well as Georg Philipp Telemann’s Sonata for violin, oboe, flute and basso continuoin G major (TWV 49).

Download the concert leaflet: PDF, 4 pages A5, 3.9 MB
Location of Jämaja church: on the Sõrve peninsula, 42 km south-west of Kuressaare, i.e. a 40-minute drive. You can also come by the regular bus that leaves Kuressaare at 17:01.

Concert organized by ERP:
Peeter Vähi – artistic director of Glasperlenspiel
Tiina Jokinen – executive director
Kadri Kiis – accountant, producer
Johannes Vähi – co-producer, IT
Mart Kivisild – design
Olavi Sööt – co-producer, logistics
Reno Hekkonens – marketing
Rebeca Birk – social media
Special thanks: Anu Konks, Kaupo Kiis, Kaupo Vipp
Next Glasperlenspiel concert in Jämaja church on October 30th, 2026: ARSIS. SILVER RHAPSODY