The Brandenburg Concertos On Tour in Oxford

Bach's groundbreaking 'Six Concertos for several instruments' put the collective virtuosity of the OAE in the spotlight.

Revel in the complete set in all its “imperfections” and “daring combinations” in the Baroque mastery of the Sheldonian Theatre!

The Brandenburg Concertos present one of music’s great riddles. Their history reads like the script for a classic adventure caper: we don’t know why Bach gifted them in 1721 as a set to the Margrave of Brandenburg or exactly what he did with them; they were then ‘lost’ in the library of a Princess for around a century before being rediscovered and published in 1850; and the manuscript was nearly lost forever during World War II when the train carrying it to safety was blown up…

Then there are the riddles in the music itself. Why Bach chose the unprecedented combinations of instruments, who he envisaged playing this music of endless inventiveness which demands a supergroup ensemble of virtuosos, or if he intended them to be performed as a collected set at all.

It all calls for a team of musical sleuths who can put the clues together to unmask the real Brandenburg Concertos.

Huw Daniel piccolo violin/director
Margaret Faultless violin/director
Rodolfo Richter violin/director
Oliver Wilson viola/director
Lisa Beznosiuk flute
Rachel Beckett recorder
Catherine Latham recorder
Leo Duarte oboe
David Blackadder trumpet
Steven Devine harpsichord