John Butt’s Discovery Concert: Exploring Music of the Dresden Court

Legendary conductor John Butt returns to Oregon Bach Festival with a spin on the iconic Festival Discovery Series! During his July 2 concert, “Music of the Dresden Court,” he delves deep into the very essence of four compositions, providing context and personal insights before conducting the program. 

He designed the evening to replenish the audience’s encounter with one of the richest areas of repertory in history: music of early eighteenth-century Saxony. “This music doesn’t just inspire us with its intriguing design and subtle patterning – it also stirs up an astonishing variety of emotions, together with a real sense of dance-like bodily movement,” Butt expressed.  

John breaks down and examines works from Johann Georg Pisendel, Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka, and the prolific Goerg Philipp Telemann. The evening also features Bach’s Gloria in excelsis Deo – the only church cantata he wrote in Latin. 

For each of the four composers featured, he isolates and discusses one or two elements that make the music buzz – sometimes with sorrow, sometimes with joy, but always with confidence. “These composers were not shy about their ability to draw us into their world!” he emphasized.  

Selecting Butt to lead the Discovery concert is a deliberate nod to his expertise as a Bach historian and recording artist. “John is a preeminent Bach scholar, and he’s also a very charming, eloquent speaker,” OBF Director of Programming and Administration James Boyd said. “He will relate to the audience and speak to them about the music in a very approachable way.”