Bach’s dazzling concerto
The key work in the next Oxford Bach Soloists concert on 22 October is Bach’s dazzling Violin Concerto in E Major with Bojan Čičić as the soloist. In this feature we find out a little more about the origins of the concerto… ‘Taut and elegant … Čičić makes...
Performer Focus: Aileen Thomson
Soprano Aileen Thomson is an alumna of St Peter’s College, Oxford and a Trustee of Oxford Bach Soloists. We hear more about her career as a performer both as a soloist and a choral singer… Tell us about your training and career to date. I graduated from St...
Meet our Virtuosi for the perfect introduction to Bach’s music
Join the Oxford Bach Soloists for this spectacular concert featuring selections from some of JS Bach’s best-loved works. Presented as part of the Oxford Alumni Weekend, this performance features four of Oxford’s finest soloists, accompanied by our own...
Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation
In the atmospheric surroundings of Oxford’s oldest building – the Church of St Michael at the North Gate – experience a liturgical performance of one of J.S. Bach’s four great Reformation Day cantatas. 500 years ago Martin Luther published his Ninety-five Theses which...
Performer Focus: Susanne Heinrich
One of the leading viol players of her generation, Susanne Heinrich has performed and recorded with many of the leading period-instrument ensembles of Europe, and for many years toured worldwide with the Palladian Ensemble. In this edition, we discover a bit more...
Become a Friend of Oxford Bach Soloists
Without the loyal following of our audience members none of what we do would be possible. Now is your opportunity to join us on our journey to secure our future by becoming a Friend of OBS and secure the performance and appreciation of JS Bach for future generations....
Will you join us for Actus Tragicus?
Coming up on Sunday 6 August is the next concert from the Oxford Bach Soloists – Actus Tragicus – a fascinating concert exploring the music by some of the greatest composers of the baroque age. Bach’s Cantata Gottes Zeit ist die Allerbeste Zeit...
Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata: Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106 (Actus Tragicus)
The cantata “Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit” (“God’s time is best”), dates from 1707 when Bach was, for a short while, organist of the Blasiuskirche at Mühlhausen. To access this post, you must purchase Dresden Court, Friend of Oxford Bach Soloists or Leipzig...
Dietrich Buxtehude: Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BuxWV 76
One of the very few of Buxtehude’s compositions to be published in his own lifetime, Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin is a set of two works, both funeral music, and the second of which was written in memory of his father – the organist of St Olaf’s, Helsingør, in...
Georg Philipp Telemann: Concerto for recorder, viola da gamba and strings, TWV 52:a1
Stylistic eclecticism was a distinctive feature of instrumental music by German composers of the mid to late Baroque. Telemann, though professing difficulty in writing concertos, preferring the orchestral suite form for which he was greatly admired by Quantz and...
Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata for Viola da gamba and Harpsichord in D, BWV 1028
Bach’s three Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord were long thought to be products of his years at Cöthen when he was Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold. To access this post, you must purchase Dresden Court, Friend of Oxford Bach Soloists or Leipzig...
Bach in Mühlhausen
In 1707, the 22-year-old Johann Sebastian Bach began his position as the organist at the Lutheran church of St. Blasius in Mühlhausen. His arrival was just months after a devastating fire which destroyed a quarter of the historic town. Mühlhausen had been one of the...
Heinrich Schütz: Aus der Tiefe rufe ich, Herr, zu dir (SWV 25)
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) is generally regarded as Germany’s most important composer before JS Bach. To access this post, you must purchase Dresden Court, Friend of Oxford Bach Soloists or Leipzig...
Performer Focus: Sam Mitchell
Australian countertenor, Sam Mitchell has been involved with the Oxford Bach Soloists since 2016 and is undertaking some Haute-contre solos in the forthcoming performance of Charpentier’s De profundis on 16 July. We hear more about his musical career… Tell us a bit...
Setting the text
In 1524 Martin Luther paraphrased Psalm 130 Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir (Out of the depths, I have cried out to you) into a text which was to become the inspiration for many composers to write some great pieces of music in the Baroque age and afterwards...
Why not join us for Out of the Depths?
Join the Oxford Bach Soloists on 16 July for Out of the Depths – a fascinating concert exploring the music by some of the greatest composers of the baroque age. The powerful text Aus der Tiefe rufe ich, Herr, zu dir (Out of the depths have I cried unto thee) was...
Performer Focus: Nick Pritchard
Tenor Nick Pritchard has been singing with the Oxford Bach Soloists since 2011. Recently, he took the tenor solo in Bach’s Easter Oratorio. We asked Nick about his life in music… Perhaps you can start by telling us a bit about your training and career to date? I was...
An invitation to a Royal Wedding
Join us on 4 June for an exploration of music for ‘heavenly’ Royal Weddings dominated by Handel’s magnificent DIXIT DOMINUS. 1707 was a turning point for Great Britain with the Acts of Union joining the Kingdoms of England and Scotland. Meanwhile, a more musical...
