On Saturday, April 25, 2026, Belgian viola player Kaat Schraepen performed the programme Back to Bach in the Sint-Rochuskapel van Mariadal in Hoegaarden, a concert organized by Klassiek in de Kapel. In this programme, she started from the music of Johann Sebastian Bach to show how his musical language continues to resonate in the work of later composers such as Paul Hindemith and Max Reger.
A thoughtfully structured programme
The core of the programme lay in the alternation between excerpts from Bach's sixth cello suite and Hindemith's sonata for solo viola. This alternation was each time preceded by a short narrative, delivered by Kathleen Poelaert. This gave the concert a clear dramaturgical line from the start. Instead of placing separate works side by side, a coherent whole emerged in which music and text complemented each other.
The choice to connect Bach and Hindemith so explicitly proved to be particularly effective. While Bach's music excels in clarity and structural logic, Hindemith often requires a more concentrated way of listening. By placing both composers in proximity to each other, underlying connections became audible. Motifs, rhythmic patterns and dramatic arcs gained new meaning within the larger whole.
The narrative served as a subtle guide. In the image of a train journey and a visit to a historic city, an atmosphere was created that guided the audience through the programme. Without explicitly explaining or interpreting, that narrative layer offered support and direction, which added coherence to the listening experience.
A clear and convincing interpretation
Kaat Schraepen brought this programme with great concentration and a clear insight into its structure. Her playing was characterized by clear tone formation and natural phrasing, allowing the music to unfold organically.
In Bach, she laid bare the structure without weighing it down, resulting in a transparent and balanced sound. Phrases were given space and breath, and the underlying coherence became audible in a natural way. In Hindemith, by contrast, she made the sharper contours and tensions of the music clearly come to the fore, without the whole appearing fragmented. Through this approach, the continuity of the programme was preserved and Hindemith's language gained greater accessibility.
After this alternating journey, Max Reger's suite formed the finale of the official programme. Here the emphasis shifted towards a more introspective sound world. The music took on a more concentrated character, in which the previously established connections came together in a more compact form. Schraepen chose a sober and restrained interpretation, with attention to the internal tensions and the layering of the music. The audience followed this development to the end with great attention.
An intense audience reaction
The concert concluded with enthusiastic applause, after which Kaat Schraepen thanked the audience with an encore that was particularly warmly received. The responses afterwards indicated a strong engagement with the programme and the performance, with particular impression made by the coherence of the whole and the way in which the different styles were brought into relation with each other.