http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/arts/music/together-the-sebastians-and-tenet-perform-motets.html 2014-09-24 00:56:13 Together, the Sebastians and Tenet Perform Motets The conductor Scott Metcalfe led the instrument ensemble Tenet and a vocal counterpart, the Sebastians, in four Bach motets on Saturday. === The early-music vocal ensemble The result in the intricate contrapuntal passages resembled a tapestry in which each strand was shot through with fine metallic thread: Colors gleamed and sparkled; the pattern of the weave stood out vividly. The visualization of the music was further underscored by the spatial arrangement, with the players spread out among the singers. While the instrumental doubling adds color and zest, it also tends to obscure the text. The words came through most clearly during the more musically homogeneous chorales at the close of a motet, such as “Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf” or “Komm, Jesu, komm.” At other times, the words — so important to Bach and so lovingly set — were nearly reduced to the clicks and hisses of consonants. And yet there was no doubt that the spirit of these devotional, faith-affirming works was well served in this arrangement. This was especially true in “Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied,” a motet set to psalms that exalt singing itself as an act of worship. Here, the amplified multiplicity of voices, joined in a common purpose yet each maintaining its unique character, movingly expressed the sense of agency and responsibility of the individual that was so central to Bach’s Lutheran belief. The motets were interspersed with the Sebastians’ buoyant performances of two instrumental works: Telemann’s “Ouverture à 7 in C” for three oboes and strings and Handel’s Trio Sonata in G (Op. 5, No. 4). Light and lean, they functioned like palate cleansers in between the gloriously rich Bach motets.