The 2026 Festival Edition: In Dialogue

photo: Jens Schlüter

Mr Maul, the title of the 2026 Bachfest is »In Dialogue«. What’s behind it?
As every Bach lover knows, his music is a permanent dialogue between the individual voices: »They go with one another and against one another, in either case where necessary. They depart from one another and come back together again all at the correct time«. These were the words with which, in the 1730s, Johann Abraham Birnbaum defended Bach’s compositions against the charge that they were »too confused«, »turgid« and »contrary to nature«. And, Birnbaum added, »if all this is executed as it should be«, there is »nothing more beautiful« than precisely this kind of »harmony«. In other words, what is special about Bach’s compositional technique is that with him, all the voices are equal and take part in the musical discourse in their own right. Yet the result is neither chaos nor cacophony, but the most beautiful harmony. So, in modern terms we can absolutely say that his music is representative of an extremely democratic process. But at the Bachfest, the principle of dialogue is perceptible on several levels simultaneously.

So, give us a couple of examples! 
With pleasure! In 1726, Bach for the first time published a print edition of a keyboard work: his Partita BWV 825, published under the title of »Clavier-Übung«, meaning »keyboard practice«. We’ll be celebrating the 300th anniversary of the unique »Clavier-Übung« series with a dual cycle. Sir András Schiff will perform the pieces, including the »Art of Fugue«, on the modern concert grand – and Mahan Esfahani on the historical harpsichord. Two performers on two different instruments playing the same notes but in completely different worlds of sound – a dialogue in more than one respect.

And besides just keyboard music?
There’ll also be plenty of dialogue going on – even taking the example of chamber music alone. Of course, with a title like this we couldn’t not include Bach’s sonatas »con cembalo obbligato« – pieces in which the harpsichord plays on equal terms with a second instrument, the violin or gamba. And these magnificent tête-à-têtes will be conducted by the very best in their field: Lucile Boulanger and Pierre Hantaï, and Isabelle Faust and Kristian Bezuidenhout. And then there are Bach’s Cello Suites. It’s true, to continue the metaphor, that they’re soliloquies and for the most part monophonic. But here again, Bach magically succeeds in creating a whole cosmos of sound. Especially as Mario Brunello’s very special programme will produce yet another dialogue: with the incredible Solo Sonatas for Cello by Mieczysław Weinberg, composed in the mid-20th century.

Does Bach also dialogue with his contemporaries?
Of course – and more than once! Because his whole life long Bach took a keen interest in the works of others. So that’s why we’ll be juxtaposing his music with that of his models (Buxtehude, Handel, Keiser, Couperin, Vivaldi), his friends and his pupils (Johann Ludwig Bach, Krebs, Müthel, Goldberg). In addition to that, there will be two dialogues that I can’t wait to hear. Firstly, an adaptation of the Marian Vespers compiled by Thomaskantor Reize; and secondly a combination of works by Schütz and Bach with the Brahms »Requiem«, breathtakingly performed by the French ensemble La Tempête. And I’m also especially looking forward to the musical »competition« between Bach and his sharpest critic, Johann Adolph Scheibe. With that, the audience will at last be able to judge musically who in the famous Scheibe-Birnbaum debate had the better arguments.

On the subject of audience, will they have their say too in the festival programme?
Oh yes, an absolutely crucial one. Because we held the first dialogue concerning the 2026 Bachfest with our audience. For six months, we ran an online vote to find out which are the best-loved Bach cantatas worldwide. We received more than 7,000 votes. And the result is binding for our new edition of the legendary Ring of Cantatas (2018). So, on the basis of a grassroots democratic process, the TOP 50 Bach cantatas are going to be performed at the Bachfest in twelve concerts, in descending order from number 50 to number one – like in the good old radio hit-parades. Which is why the audience will only find out at the actual concerts which pieces have made it into the »Bach charts«. Suspense right up to the final note! But no need to worry: quality and pleasure are guaranteed. The participating artists – the Champions League of Bach interpreters – will make sure of that, as will Bach himself. Because as his son Carl Philipp Emanuel so aptly said: »One is used to seeing nothing but masterpieces by him!«

It sounds like a festival full of surprises. Are there other formats that specifically bring out the dialogue aspect?
Yes, and it’s no exaggeration to say that dialogue runs like a silver thread through all 212 events – whether in the »bach for us« series, the »Excellent« concerts, the Bachfest Lounges, the Matins concerts, the crossover formats of the open-air BachStage or the fantastic concerts that the Gewandhaus and composer houses will also be contributing. And then there are the numerous panel discussions: »Research live« and my series, »Maul meets« – in which this time, together with my podcast partner Bernhard Schrammek I’ll be getting the artists from the cantata hit-parade to talk – there’ll even be possibly the most famous amateur organist in the whole of Germany, late night legend Harald Schmidt, telling me his own Bach story. Visitors who want to play an active part themselves can again do so at our Blüthner Open Stage in the Central Railway Station – or in our new edition of the We-are-Family choir in St Thomas’ Church.

A huge bandwidth indeed, by the sound of it. If you could make a wish, what do you want audiences to take away from this Bachfest?
Well, that it has again generated the feeling that our festival is simply the world’s most beautiful, most international ›Bach self-help‹ group. And also the acknowledgement that Bach’s music is more than mere art – it’s also a model for cooperation. All the more so in times when the ability and the will to dialogue seem to have been lost in so many domains, when we don’t seem to be able to find (or aren’t seeking) a common basis. Bach shows us how to hold a good conversation. It’s not a question of one voice shouting down or ignoring or silencing the other. Rather, you have to listen to one another and exchange constructively to achieve true harmony.