Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 transcribed by the composer for Keyboard to exceptional effect, and the indescribably charming Cantata 'Komm, du süße Todesstunde' setting the well-known German hymn-melody, the so-called Passion Chorale, Hassler's 'Herzlich thut mich verlange'.

Bach at his most playful! The early wedding cantata 'Der Herr denket an uns' BWV 196, the famous “St. Anne” fugue for organ, with the festive motet 'Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden' BWV 230, and the rude and light-hearted ‘Wedding Quodlibet’ BWV 524.

A service of Lutheran Vespers featuring Bach's Cantata 180 'Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele' (Adorn thyself, dear soul). New College Choir, conducted by Robert Quinney.

“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar…” Two cellos conjure up an irresistible picture of coin-polishers at work, swinging and striking their hammers in Bach's Cantata 163 Nur jedem das seine.

Bach's Advent Cantatas with a rousing French 'Ouverture' and divine angels hovering round the manger, hold us in breathless suspense with arresting, unexpected dissonances, and extravagant kaleidoscopic colours.

*SOLD OUT* N.B. Walk-ups will be admitted to the ante-chapel. This will be on a first-come-first-served basis and cost £20. (Doors open at 4pm).
Oxford’s most evocative seasonal event with an authentic performance of JS Bach’s much-loved telling of the Christmas story (Parts I-III). The perfect way to start your Christmas Eve!

We will be hosting a unique event as a thank you to our Friends with a wonderful programme created around our concert that day, Cantatas for the New Year.

Unique among Bach’s church music, Cantata 152 for the 1st Sunday after Christmas in 1714 is scored for recorders, viola d’amore, viola da gamba, and oboe. These ‘old fashioned’ instruments, chosen for their tender qualities, create an exquisitely delicate intimacy.

A service of Lutheran Vespers featuring Bach’s Cantata 18 Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt. This dramatic cantata, written for Sexagesima Sunday, is richly scored for four violas and shows Bach’s vivid use of the latest operatic styles of the early 18th century.

In December 1722 Bach was keen to leave Köthen and applied for the cantorate of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. Anxious to woo the reluctant Leipzigers, who were not particularly disposed to appoint him, he diplomatically presented himself as a composer on quite modest lines. At his audition on 7th February 1723 he performed Cantatas 22 and 23 which, despite slim forces of oboe and strings, contain some of the most affecting and imaginative music in the cantata repertoire.

*MAIN CHAPEL SOLD OUT* N.B. Walk-ups will be admitted to the ante-chapel. This will be on a first-come-first-served basis and cost £20. (Doors open at 12.30pm). *** One of Bach’s best loved works, the St John Passion was first performed on Good Friday of 1724 in the St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig. This operatic piece is presented by an ensemble of soloists, chorus, and orchestra, ‘Daring, forceful and poetic’ – Robert Schumann.

Bach’s festive scoring with trumpets and drums tells the story of the Resurrection through Simon Peter, John the Apostle, Mary Magdalene, and Mary Jacobe.

On 2nd November 1723, Bach was in Störmthal and performed Cantata 194 to dedicate their new organ. Full of extrovert colours, Bach adapts the structure and style of an orchestral suite into cantata form.

A service of Lutheran Vespers featuring Bach’s Cantata 108 Es ist euch gut, daß ich hingehe. Performed by New College Choir, conducted by Robert Quinney, with the orchestra of the Oxford Bach Soloists. 

Barely arrived in Leipzig, Bach probably announced himself with Cantata 59 on Whit Sunday 1723 (16 May), six days before his family joined him. Eight days later, he began his first Leipzig cantata cycle with Cantata 75.

Keen to impress the congregations in Leipzig, Bach’s first Cantatas in his new role set the bar extraordinarily high. Both Cantata 75 (for Whit Sunday) and Cantata 76 are written on a great scale consisting of 14 movements

Recycling was very much a part of the 18th century composer’s armoury, and Bach’s efforts were the most inventive. Cantata 186, which started life in Weimar 1716, is presented in its later, expanded version.