La Serenata Ritrovata

We know that it was the 24th birthday party for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen. And we also know that it was a particularly lavish birthday, with dancing, music and theatrical performances. And we know that Johann Sebastian Bach composed a serenade to celebrate the feast and that Hamburg's most famous theatre bass, Gottfried Riemschneider, was invited to sing. Of this composition we are left with the libretto but... not the music. Bach, however – like almost all composers – reused his best pages, adapting them to another text. So, we set out to find it! And here, after years of work, we present what was probably the Serenade performed on the evening of the 10th of December 1718 for Prince Leopold. A musicologist, a musician, a composer, a translator and... a lot of passion are the ingredients that finally allow us to relive that magical moment of music and splendour that amazed the guests of the Köthen court 325 years ago.

And to share it with you!

Karl Böhmer, who teaches at the Hochschule für Musik in Mainz, was the first inspiration for this reconstruction. His collaboration with Fabio Bonizzoni is long-standing and, together, they have worked on various hypotheses on the possible original form of this Serenata. Bringing musicological hypotheses into dialogue with musical practice is a complex and fascinating operation, and only a truly close-knit team can succeed in this field. Knowledge, as well as mutual esteem, were the indispensable ingredients for the success of this reconstruction. 
 

But what to do with the few, non-reconstructible pages? Those of which no trace could really be found? Get them written! And so the composer and musician Jörn Boysen, was called upon to fill in the gaps in Bach's text, doing so with unparalleled mastery, managing to enter into symbiosis with the surviving music and giving us pages that blend magically with the autograph ones. Finally, we also wanted to restore accessibility to the text of this Serenata - a text written in archaic, and difficult German. Carlo Vitali, whom we once again thank for his artistry and creativity, masterfully succeeded in doing a beautiful Italian version of it.

On the 16th of December 2023, in the beautiful Sala del Cenacolo of the Leonardo da Vinci National Science and Technology Museum in Milan, the notes of the revived Serenata BWV 66a resounded in all their splendour.

Enlivened by four exceptional soloists,

Valerio Zanolli

Karol Kusz

Federica Napoletani

Angela Hyun Jung Oh

and by La Risonanza in its full glory,

it was an unforgettable evening!

And here the full video of the concert featuring the first performance of the "new" Serenata BWV 66a. It was broadcasted on the 20th of March as part of REMA's EMD Festival. 

In this section we make available the outcome of our research and work: an article (in English) by Karl Böhmer on the scientific aspects of the reconstruction, the libretto translated by Carlo Vitali and the musical score prepared by Jörn Boysen.  The download is free, but we invite you to consider supporting our work with a free donation. Also with PayPal.

If you would like to purchase the orchestral material for the Serenata BWV 66a, please contact us using the contact form at the bottom of the page.

The project La Serenata Ritrovata was realised thanks to a special grant from the MIC, the Italian Ministry of Culture.

A special thank to the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci for their kind hospitality.