Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata No. 82 and Franz Liszt’s Angelus! are two outstanding works in the history of sacred music. Bach composed his cantata in Leipzig; in many respects, it is linked to the spiritual and musical world of the St. Matthew Passion, written during the same period. Angelus! is one of the most characteristic examples of Liszt’s late piano style; as one of the rare exceptions, the composer himself arranged it for string quartet and string orchestra. The concert is framed by a string symphony by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the most original thinker among Bach’s sons, and Grieg’s popular suite dedicated to the memory of playwright, historian, and philosopher Ludvig Holberg, a contemporary of Bach.