This Pick of the Week features the 2019 performance of the Quicksilver Baroque Ensemble. J.S. Bach was very much aware of his musical heritage, especially those German composers who had come before him. Quicksilver's program explores the extraordinarily inventive 17th-century music that influenced Bach's development. From Northern Germany, the highly imaginative Matthias Weckmann caught Bach's imagination, and the elaborate inventions of Dieterich Buxtehude prompted him to make an epic 250-mile hike to Lübeck to visit the master. From Southern Germany, Quicksilver investigates the ingenious chamber music of J.J. Fux, the elegant French-influenced dance music of Johann Pachelbel, and the virtuosic inventions of Johann Schmeltzer and H.I.F. von Biber. We will also hear from the eloquent Leipzig composer Johann Rosenmüller — a man who would have been Bach's predecessor at the Thomaskirche had he not had to flee the city due to persecution.

“Quicksilver signifies something unpredictable and swiftly responsive. It’s the perfect name for an ensemble that revels in music of the highest quality – and that demands exceptional instrumental skills.” (Gramophone)