Bach Cantatas for the Sunday after Ascension Day performed by the Oxford Bach Soloists

Cantata: Sie werden euch in den Bann tun (I)  BWV 44
Cantata: Sie werden euch in den Bann tun (II) BWV 183
Motet: Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir BWV 228

Tickets £10 with a free programme

The Sunday of Exaudi, an appeal to listen, marks a turning point in the church calendar. Exaudi is the name for the Sunday after the Ascension of the Lord. The Ascension is one of the great feasts in the Christian liturgical calendar, and commemorates the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven.

JS Bach seized this opportunity to create two of his most beautiful – yet also controversial cantatas for this day in 1724 and 1725. Listen to these two very different and remarkably distinct works set to the same opening text performed in the beautifully atmospheric surroundings of New College Chapel by one of Oxford’s foremost ensembles.

Read an interview with Oxford Bach Soloists’ director Tom Hammond Davies about the fascinating story behind this concert.