^{FIRST PUBLISHED 04 APR 2026}

The Oxford Bach Soloists perform Bach's Easter Oratorio, recorded live on 20 April 2019 in New College Chapel, Oxford by kind permission of the Warden and Scholars of New College, Oxford.

Bach wrote the music that would become his Easter Oratorio in 1725, when he used the material for two separate works: his secular Shepherd Cantata, BWV 249a, and his church cantata for Easter Sunday, Kommt, gehet und eilet, ihr flüchtigen Füße, BWV 249.3.

In 1738, Bach revised these works, entitling the new autograph manuscript Oratorium Festo Paschali (Easter Oratorio). Uniquely among Bach's oratorios, this work contains no original Biblical text, no Evangelist narrator, and no chorale.

Founded in 2017 by Tom Hammond-Davies, the Oxford Bach Soloists is a Baroque ensemble with Steven Grahl appointed as the Musical Director from the 2025–26 season. The ensemble aims to perform Bach’s works in a manner faithful to the composer’s own experience, using period instruments, historically informed performers, and venues reminiscent of the churches and university settings of Leipzig, Bach’s hometown. In 2027, the Oxford Bach Soloists will celebrate their 10th anniversary with a special celebratory season.

This performance was generously supported by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH).

PERFORMERS

Oxford Bach Soloists | Tom Hammond-Davies conductor

Aileen Thomson soprano; Esther Brazil mezzo-soprano; Ruairi Bowen tenor; Humphrey Thompson baritone

Yu-Wei Hu flute; Mark Baigent & Chris Hartland oboes, recorders; Theresa Caudle & Jean Paterson violins; Aliye Cornish viola; Gabriel Amherst cello; Rosie Moon double bass; Noel Rainbird bassoon; Stephen Cutting; cornetto; Stephen Cutting, Darren Moore & Ross Brown trumpets; Tristan Fry timpani; Charles Maxtone-Smith organ; Josef Laming harpsichord

SOPRANOS Miranda Dogget, Sally Dunkley, Olivia Hugh-Jones, Georgie Malcolm, Miranda Ostler, Aimee Preswood, Geraldine Rowe, Nancy-Jane Rucker, Aileen Thomson
ALTOS Esther Brazil, Tom Dixon, Steph Franklin, Dan Gethin, Sam Mitchell, Damaris Rickhaus-Nussbaumer, Jeremy Rowe, Anna Semple, Meg Tong, Jutta Walcher
TENORS Will Anderson, Ruairi Bowen, Peter Burrows, Joseph Hancock, Charlie Hodgkiss
BASS James Jenkins, Inigo Jones, Benjamin Thompson, Humphrey Thompson, Filippo Turkheimer

Cate Hall Concert Manager | Angela Fost & Jacqui O'Reilly Front of House

Filmed by TallWall Media

PROGRAMME

JS Bach Easter Oratorio, BWV 249
I. Sinfonia
II. Adagio
III. Chorus 'Kommt, eilet und laufet'
IV. Recitative 'O kalter Männer Sinn'
V. Aria 'Seele, deine Spezereien'
VI. Recitative 'Hier ist die Gruft'
VII. Aria 'Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer'
VIII. Recitative 'Indessen seufzen wir'
IX. Aria 'Saget, saget mir geschwinde'
X. Recitative 'Wir sind erfreut'
XI. Chorus 'Preis und Dank'

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