In the Company of Gods: music by François Couperin, Marin Marais, and Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre

Friday 7 July, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

The court of Louis XIV did indeed become a parnassus – a source for some of the greatest music and poetry of the time. In this concert we focus on private music for the King, by Marin Marais, François Couperin, Jean Philippe Rameau – and Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre. She is often introduced as a ‘woman composer’, but as the three pieces played here will show, she transcends any category. Her work can display drama, intensity, and great artistic subtlety. No wonder that Évrard Titon du Tillet in his Parnasse français (1732) gave her a place on Mount Parnassus alongside Marais and Couperin. This will be a rare chance to hear Jacquet de La Guerre, in the company with which she so clearly belongs. Find out more

In the Company of Gods: music by François Couperin, Marin Marais, and Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre

Wednesday 5 July, 7.00 pm

Burgh House, New End Square, Hampstead, London NW3 1LT

The court of Louis XIV did indeed become a parnassus – a source for some of the greatest music and poetry of the time. In this concert we focus on private music for the King, by Marin Marais, François Couperin, Jean Philippe Rameau – and Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre. She is often introduced as a ‘woman composer’, but as the three pieces played here will show, she transcends any category. Her work can display drama, intensity, and great artistic subtlety. No wonder that Évrard Titon du Tillet in his Parnasse français (1732) gave her a place on Mount Parnassus alongside Marais and Couperin. This will be a rare chance to hear Jacquet de La Guerre, in the company with which she so clearly belongs. Find out more

Rameau: Pièces de clavecin en concerts

Sunday 14 May, 6.30 pm

St Michael’s Church, Cobham Close, Battersea, London SW11 6SP

A feast of Jean Philippe Rameau: his Pièces de clavecin en concerts, with some shorter works by him and his contemporaries
Find out more

Stabat Mater

Saturday 25 March, 7.30 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

In praise of the Virgin Mary: Pergolesi’s setting of the Stabat Mater text, the Concerto Madrigalesco by Vivaldi and one of his Sonatas al Santo Sepolcro, and a Mystery Sonata by Biber Find out more

Stabat Mater

Thursday 9 March, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

In praise of the Virgin Mary: Pergolesi’s setting of the Stabat Mater text, the Concerto Madrigalesco by Vivaldi and one of his Sonatas al Santo Sepolcro, and a Mystery Sonata by Biber Find out more

Pour le souper du roi

Wednesday 15 February, 7.30 pm

Dorset County Museum Concert Society, Dorset County Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1XA

This programme paints a musical picture of the chamber music presented to Louis XIV by his favourite composers. Composers who were allowed into the inner circle of the king were given the title ‘musicien pour la chambre du Roy’: their tasks included providing music for the king in his private rooms. Some of the best chamber music of the period was written for these occasions. Find out more

Pour le souper du roi

Sunday 12 February, 6.30 pm

St Michael’s Church, 
Cobham Close, Battersea
, London SW11 6SP

This programme paints a musical picture of the chamber music presented to Louis XIV by his favourite composers. Composers who were allowed into the inner circle of the king were given the title ‘musicien pour la chambre du Roy’: their tasks included providing music for the king in his private rooms. Some of the best chamber music of the period was written for these occasions. Find out more

Christmas concert

Saturday 17 December, 8.15 pm

Paaskerk Baarn, Oude Utrechtseweg 4a, 3743 KN Baarn, The Netherlands

An anthology of seasonal music from Advent to Christmas, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, and from all over Europe Find out more

Handel's Messiah: come & sing + concert

Saturday 3 December, 7.00 am

Heath Street Choir (Joe Wagott, director)
with The Bach Players (Nicolette Moonen, leader)

Heath Street Baptist Church, 84 Heath Street, London NW3 1DN

The Bach Players join Heath Street Choir in a come & sing day, leading to a concert performance of Handel’s Messiah in the evening. Soloists include Rachel Elliott (soprano). This is in aid of the Panzi Hospital, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Find out more

Coffee and cabbage

Sunday 9 October, 5.00 pm

Saxon Shore Early Music: St Mary’s Church, Kenardington, Kent TN26 2NF

Two of J.S. Bach’s loved secular cantatas – essentially small-scale operas for soprano and bass voices – are given in the context of his fifth Brandenburg Concerto and canons from the Goldberg Variations Find out more

Coffee and cabbage

Saturday 8 October, 7.30 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

Two of J.S. Bach’s loved secular cantatas – essentially small-scale operas for soprano and bass voices – are given in the context of his fifth Brandenburg Concerto and canons from the Goldberg Variations Find out more

Coffee and cabbage

Thursday 6 October, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

Two of J.S. Bach’s loved secular cantatas – essentially small-scale operas for soprano and bass voices – are given in the context of his fifth Brandenburg Concerto and canons from the Goldberg Variations Find out more

Pour le souper du roi

Saturday 17 September, 7.30 pm

Totnes Early Music Society, St Mary’s Church, High Street, Totnes TQ9 5NN

This programme paints a musical picture of the chamber music presented to Louis XIV by his favourite composers. Composers who were allowed into the inner circle of the king were given the title ‘musicien pour la chambre du Roy’: their tasks included providing music for the king in his private rooms. Some of the best chamber music of the period was written for these occasions. Find out more

The Seasons

Sunday 21 August, 7.30 pm

Binham Priory, Binham, Norfolk NR21 0DQ

A summer concert of music by Vivaldi, Biber, Guido, and others. This is programmatic music, expressing the themes of nature. You will hear cuckoos, nightingales, frogs, ducks, and thunder too. Although some of these composers are not well known, this is music that will appeal to anyone – and especially to children Find out more

Pour le souper du roi

Wednesday 20 July, 7.00 pm

Fenton House, Hampstead Grove, Hampstead, London, NW3 6SP

This programme paints a musical picture of the chamber music presented to Louis XIV by his favourite composers. Composers who were allowed into the inner circle of the king were given the title ‘musicien pour la chambre du Roy’: their tasks included providing music for the king in his private rooms. Some of the best chamber music of the period was written for these occasions. Find out more

Stabat Mater

Saturday 11 June, 7.30 pm

Music in Lyddington: St Andrew’s, Lyddington

In praise of the Virgin Mary: Pergolesi’s setting of the Stabat Mater text, the Concerto Madrigalesco by Vivaldi and one of his Sonatas al Santo Sepolcro, and a Mystery Sonata by Biber Find out more

The Food of Love

Saturday 4 June, 7.30 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

Shakespeare’s plays were at the heart of the Restoration theatrical repertory. Freely adapted, with lavish music and spectacular staging, a number of them remained popular even after a new Restoration repertory had developed. In this programme, music by Henry Purcell is placed alongside that of his predecessors, Matthew Locke and Robert Smith, and of his pupil John Weldon, painting a picture of changing musical approaches to the words of the bard. The programme also includes the earliest surviving setting of a sonnet by Shakespeare, an adaptation of Sonnet no. 116 by Henry Lawes. Find out more

The Food of Love

Thursday 2 June, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

Shakespeare’s plays were at the heart of the Restoration theatrical repertory. Freely adapted, with lavish music and spectacular staging, a number of them remained popular even after a new Restoration repertory had developed. In this programme, music by Henry Purcell is placed alongside that of his predecessors, Matthew Locke and Robert Smith, and of his pupil John Weldon, painting a picture of changing musical approaches to the words of the bard. The programme also includes the earliest surviving setting of a sonnet by Shakespeare, an adaptation of Sonnet no. 116 by Henry Lawes. Find out more

Laments for Passiontide

Saturday 5 March, 7.30 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

The lament became an established musical genre and in this concert we present examples of this expressive form over two centuries, from Italy and Austria. Perhaps the first example of the musical lament was Monteverdi’s ‘Lamento d’Arianna’: a five-part madrigal, performed here with soprano and strings and continuo. Monteverdi later adapted the piece for a sacred text: his ‘Pianto della Madonna’. Haydn reworked his ‘Arianna a Naxos’ aria as a Marian lament, ‘Maria quaerit Christum filium’, for soprano and string quartet. In addition we perform passionate works by Monteverdi’s near-contemporary Merula, by Schmelzer (who worked in Vienna) and by Vivaldi (at whose funeral in Vienna Haydn might have sung). Find out more

Laments for Passiontide

Thursday 3 March, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

The lament became an established musical genre and in this concert we present examples of this expressive form over two centuries, from Italy and Austria. Perhaps the first example of the musical lament was Monteverdi’s ‘Lamento d’Arianna’: a five-part madrigal, performed here with soprano and strings and continuo. Monteverdi later adapted the piece for a sacred text: his ‘Pianto della Madonna’. Haydn reworked his ‘Arianna a Naxos’ aria as a Marian lament, ‘Maria quaerit Christum filium’, for soprano and string quartet. In addition we perform passionate works by Monteverdi’s near-contemporary Merula, by Schmelzer (who worked in Vienna) and by Vivaldi (at whose funeral in Vienna Haydn might have sung).
Find out more

Bach’s library

Saturday 14 November, 7.30 pm

Saxon Shore Early Music: St Mary’s Church, Kenardington, Kent TN26 2NF

A selection of pieces that J.S. Bach had in his library and which provide a context for his celebrated Orchestral Suite in B minor Find out more

Bach and before: music at St Thomas's Leipzig

Saturday 31 October, 7.30 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

Music by three predecessors of J.S. Bach as Kantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig – Schein, Schelle, Kuhnau – and the first cantata that Bach composed for his new job there: the magnificent ‘Die Elenden sollen essen’ (BWV 75) Find out more

Bach and before: music at St Thomas's Leipzig

Thursday 29 October, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

Music by three predecessors of J.S. Bach as Kantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig – Schein, Schelle, Kuhnau – and the first cantata that Bach composed for his new job there: the magnificent ‘Die Elenden sollen essen’ (BWV 75) Find out more

Pour le souper du roi

Saturday 10 October, 7.30 pm

Finchcocks Musical Museum, Goudhurst, Kent, TN17 1HH

This programme paints a musical picture of the chamber music presented to Louis XIV by his favourite composers. Composers who were allowed into the inner circle of the king were given the title ‘musicien pour la chambre du Roy’: their tasks included providing music for the king in his private rooms. Some of the best chamber music of the period was written for these occasions. Find out more

The Seasons

Saturday 18 July, 7.30 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

A summer concert of music by Vivaldi, Biber, Guido, and others. This is programmatic music, expressing the themes of nature. You will hear cuckoos, nightingales, frogs, ducks, and thunder too. Although some of these composers are not well known, this is music that will appeal to anyone – and especially to children Find out more

The Seasons

Thursday 16 July, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

A summer concert of music by Vivaldi, Biber, Guido, and others. This is programmatic music, expressing the themes of nature. You will hear cuckoos, nightingales, frogs, ducks, and thunder too. Although some of these composers are not well known, this is music that will appeal to anyone – and especially to children Find out more

Baroque in the summertime

Saturday 27 June, 8.00 pm

The Derwent Singers (Richard Roddis, conductor)
with The Bach Players (Nicolette Moonen, leader)

St Mary’s Church, Bridge Gate, Derby DE1 3AU

A concert featuring the music of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries. The Missa Brevis in A major is a joyous and sparkling work, sunny in nature although composed for Christmas. Bach knew Pergolesi’s expressive ‘Stabat Mater’, and even made his own arrangement of it. There will be movements from two Cantatas, and the great motet ‘Singet dem Herrn’ Find out more

'A wonder has appeared in Paris': Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre

Sunday 17 May, 3.30 pm

London Festival of Baroque Music: The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1U 3BN

Chamber music composed by Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, including solo pieces for the harpsichord played by Béatrice Martin – in the exquisite surroundings of the Wallace Collection Find out more

An Italian in Paris

Thursday 7 May, 7.30 pm

The Cobbe Collection, Hatchlands Park, East Clandon, GU4 7RT

Works by the first composers in France to explore the Italian style, this concert features Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, celebrated in the year of her 350th anniversary. More than a mere ‘woman composer’ (though she was, and under difficult conditions), Jacquet de La Guerre’s music is consistently rich, surprising, and rewarding. This is a rare chance to hear her music played in concert. Find out more

A musical offering

Tuesday 24 March, 7.30 pm

Leamington Music: St Mary’s Church, Warwick

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) and festive music by Buxtehude and Telemann Find out more

A grand tour of Europe

Saturday 21 March, 7.30 pm

Sevenoaks Music Club: Ship Theatre, Sevenoaks

Music by French, English, German, and Italian composers that one might have heard on an eighteenth-century ‘grand tour’ Find out more

A musical offering

Saturday 28 February, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) and festive music by Buxtehude and Telemann Find out more

Stabat Mater

Thursday 26 February, 7.30 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater, and the astonishing and rarely heard ‘Il pianto di Maria’ by Ferrandini, formerly attributed to Handel, together with two of Vivaldi’s Sonatas al Santo Sepolcro Find out more

A musical offering

Friday 13 February, 7.30 pm

Cambridge Early Music: Cambridge

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) and festive music by Buxtehude and Telemann Find out more

A Christmas present

Friday 12 December, 7.30 pm

Burgh House, New End Square, Hampstead, London NW3 1LT

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) and festive music by Buxtehude and Telemann Find out more

A Christmas present

Wednesday 10 December, 7.30 pm

Chester Music Society, Chester

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) and festive music by Buxtehude and Telemann Find out more

Sleepers awake!

Saturday 8 November, 8.15 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

The Advent cantata ‘Wachet auf’ in the setting by J.S. Bach (BWV 140) and two versions by Dieterich Buxtehude, and chamber music by Buxtehude and Erlebach Find out more

Sleepers awake!

Thursday 6 November, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

The Advent cantata ‘Wachet auf’ in the setting by J.S. Bach (BWV 140) and two versions by Dieterich Buxtehude, and chamber music by Buxtehude and Erlebach Find out more

A grand tour of Europe

Friday 10 October, 7.30 pm

Egremont, Cumbria

Music by French, English, German, and Italian composers that one might have heard on an eighteenth-century ‘grand tour’ Find out more

Bach’s library

Sunday 5 October, 3.00 pm

St Jean de Braye eglise paroissiale, France

A selection of pieces that J.S. Bach had in his library and which provide a context for his celebrated Orchestral Suite in B minor
Find out more

From Venice to Hamburg

Saturday 12 July, 8.15 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

How the Italian improvisatory ‘stylus fantasticus’ travelled from Italy to Germany, with music by Bertali, Weckmann, Valentini, Schmelzer, Froberger, and others Find out more

From Venice to Hamburg

Thursday 10 July, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

How the Italian improvisatory ‘stylus fantasticus’ travelled from Italy to Germany, with music by Bertali, Weckmann, Valentini, Schmelzer, Froberger, and others Find out more

Pour le coucher du roy

Friday 20 June, 10.00 pm

Stour Music, All Saints’ Boughton Aluph, Kent TN25 4EU

Music for the private chambers of Louis XIV by composers who were ‘Musiciens de la Chambre du Roy’ (Marais, de Visée, Rebel, Jacquet de La Guerre). Find out more

Tales of enchantment

Saturday 12 April, 6.30 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

At our invitation, Maya Homburger and Barry Guy play and improvise on compositions by Biber, Kurtag, and by Barry Guy himself. Find out more

Stabat Mater

Wednesday 5 March, 7.00 pm

London Handel Festival: St George’s Hanover Square, London W1S 1FX Find out more

Stabat Mater

Friday 28 February, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN Find out more

Pour le souper du roi

Saturday 9 November, 7.45 pm

Georgian Concert Society, St Cecilia’s Hall, Cowgate, Edinburgh EH1 1NQ

Music presented to King Louis XIV by his favourite composers Find out more

Pour le souper du roi

Thursday 7 November, 7.30 pm

Handel House Museum, 25 Brook Street, London W1K 4HB

Music presented to King Louis XIV by his favourite composers Find out more

Bach and his rivals [2]

Saturday 5 October, 8.15 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

Cantatas composed for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany, 30 January 1724, by Telemann, Graupner, and J.S. Bach, a year after they had composed their cantatas for the audition of the Kantor’s job at St Thomas’s Leipzig. Find out more

Bach and his rivals [2]

Thursday 3 October, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

Cantatas composed for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany, 30 January 1724, by Telemann, Graupner, and J.S. Bach, a year after they had composed their cantatas for the audition of the Kantor’s job at St Thomas’s Leipzig Find out more

Bach’s library

Wednesday 11 September, 8.00 pm

Timisoara, Romania

A selection of pieces that J.S. Bach had in his library and which provide a context for his celebrated Orchestral Suite in B minor Find out more

An Italian in Paris

Saturday 20 July, 8.15 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

A rich banquet of private music, with an Italian flavour, for Louis XIV
Find out more

An Italian in Paris

Thursday 18 July, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

A rich banquet of private music, with an Italian flavour, for Louis XIV Find out more

Stabat Mater

Saturday 9 March, 8.15 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

In praise of the Virgin Mary: Pergolesi’s setting of the Stabat Mater text, and Mystery Sonatas by Biber Find out more

Stabat Mater

Thursday 7 March, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

In praise of the Virgin Mary: Pergolesi’s setting of the Stabat Mater text, and Mystery Sonatas by Biber Find out more

Bach and his rivals

Saturday 29 September, 8.15 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

Audition cantatas for the post of Cantor at St Thomas’s church Leipzig, by Telemann, Graupner, and Johann Sebastian Bach Find out more

Bach and his rivals

Thursday 27 September, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

Audition cantatas for the post of Cantor at St Thomas’s church Leipzig, by Telemann, Graupner, and Johann Sebastian Bach Find out more

Bach’s library

Saturday 30 June, 3.30 pm

Music in Lyddington: St Andrew’s, Lyddington

A selection of pieces that Johann Sebastian Bach had in his library and which provide a context for his celebrated Orchestral Suite in B minor Find out more

Bach’s library

Friday 29 June, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

A selection of pieces that Johann Sebastian Bach had in his library and which provide a context for his celebrated Orchestral Suite in B minor Find out more

Bach’s library

Thursday 28 June, 8.15 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

A selection of pieces that Johann Sebastian Bach had in his library and which provide a context for his celebrated Orchestral Suite in B minor Find out more

Bach’s library

Wednesday 27 June, 7.30 pm

Cambridge Early Music: St John’s College Chapel, Cambridge

A selection of pieces that Johann Sebastian Bach had in his library and which provide a context for his celebrated Orchestral Suite in B minor Find out more

Pachelbel, Purcell, Bach: memorial concert for Gustav Leonhardt

Thursday 19 April, 7.30 pm

St James’s Church, 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL

A programme of music that was close to Gustav Leonhardt’s heart, with short spoken contributions from those who knew and worked with him, including Mark Deller and Nicholas Anderson Find out more

Stabat Mater: music for Easter

Saturday 3 March, 8.15 pm

St John’s Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London NW3 1NU

In praise of the Virgin Mary: Alessandro Scarlatti’s setting of the Stabat Mater, punctuated by two of Biber’s Mystery Sonatas Find out more

Stabat Mater: music for Easter

Friday 2 March, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

In praise of the Virgin Mary: Alessandro Scarlatti’s setting of the Stabat Mater, punctuated by two of Biber’s Mystery Sonatas Find out more

Pour le souper du roi

Sunday 12 February, 5.30 pm

The Forge, 3–7 Delancey Street, London NW1 7NL Find out more