Biber: the Sorrowful Mysteries

Sunday 29 March, 5.00 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

Nicolette Moonen and Pawel Siwczak perform the second cycle of H.I.F. Biber’s Rosary or Mystery sonatas. This cycle is concerned with the death of Christ and the events that surrounded it. Pawel Siwczak will also play organ music by J.P. Sweelinck and Heinrich Scheidemann.

>>> As a precaution against spreading Covid-19, this concert has been cancelled
Find out more

Biber: the Sorrowful Mysteries

Sunday 15 March, 5.00 pm

St Swithin’s Church, Clunbury, near Craven Arms, Shropshire SY7 0HG

Following their first Biber concert at St Swithin’s, in December 2018, Nicolette Moonen and Pawel Siwczak perform the second cycle of the Rosary or Mystery sonatas. This cycle is concerned with the death of Christ and the events that surrounded it. Pawel Siwczak will also play organ music by J.P. Sweelinck and Heinrich Scheidemann. The concert will take place in this beautiful parish church, built originally in the twelfth century.

>>> As a precaution against spreading Covid-19, this concert has been cancelled Find out more

Stabat Mater

Saturday 7 March, 7.30 pm

St Dominic’s Priory, Southampton Road, London NW5 4LB

Pergolesi’s setting of the Stabat Mater text was hugely popular and remains so – it is often thought of as ‘the’ version of the Stabat Mater. The concert also includes the Sinfonia and Sonata al Santo Sepolcro by Vivaldi – his only sacred instrumental pieces. These deeply affecting works enhance the drama of the Stabat Mater. The concert will run without an interval and will take place in the intimate setting of the church’s Lady Chapel.
After the concert, the friars invite you for drinks (included in the price of the ticket), and there will be time to look at the wonderful
interior architecture of St Dominic’s. Find out more

Pour le souper du roi

Wednesday 22 January, 7.30 pm

Influence Church, Victoria Road, Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL10 4AS

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

Biber: the Joyful Mysteries

Wednesday 4 December, 7.30 pm

Clitheroe Grammar School, Sixth Form Centre, York Street, Clitheroe, Lancashire BB7 2DJ

In this concert Nicolette Moonen and Pawel Siwczak play the first five of Biber’s Mystery or Rosary sonatas, concerned with the birth of Christ and the events that surrounded it. Pawel Siwczak will also play organ music by composers of Biber’s time: Buxtehude and Pachelbel. Find out more

A European Christmas

Sunday 1 December, 5.00 pm

St John’s Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HA

A concert in celebration of Advent and Christmas, starting with music from the Austro-Italian seventeenth-century Catholic tradition; from the Annunciation to the birth of Jesus, with the focus on Mary and the baby Jesus. After the interval: the eighteenth-century Lutheran tradition in Germany with two cantatas by J. S. Bach: ‘Schwingt freudig euch empor’, composed for the first Sunday in Advent, and ‘Selig ist der Mann’, composed for second Christmas day. Find out more

A European Christmas

Thursday 28 November, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

A concert in celebration of Advent and Christmas, starting with music from the Austro-Italian seventeenth-century Catholic tradition; from the Annunciation to the birth of Jesus, with the focus on Mary and the baby Jesus. After the interval: the eighteenth-century Lutheran tradition in Germany with two cantatas by J. S. Bach: ‘Schwingt freudig euch empor’, composed for the first Sunday in Advent, and ‘Selig ist der Mann’, composed for second Christmas day. Find out more

A musical offering

Sunday 3 November, 3.30 pm

Brighton Early Music Festival: St Paul’s Church, West Street, Brighton BN1 2RE

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) is a late work that both looks back to the tradition in which he was grounded and forward to the music of his sons. The concert opens with a sonata by Buxtehude, Bach’s admired elder: we hear the ‘stylus phantasticus’ in full flight, with its unpredictable structures and sometimes startling improvisatory freedoms. The Musical Offering is often taken to be a disjointed collection of fragments, dominated by the culminating, beautiful trio sonata. This performance treats the work as an essay in the musical rhetoric in which Bach was immersed. The succession of canons and fugues become a speech – a musical oration, in which factual statements are then elaborated on and developed in argumentative sections, interspersed with charming passages that may seduce the listener. The sonata then gives free rein to the whole spectrum of emotions. The work concludes with a final, calming ‘perpetual canon’. This is a chance to hear Bach’s famous piece with fresh ears. Find out more

Couperin: l’Art de la Danse

Sunday 20 October, 2.00 pm

Two Moors Festival: New Assembly Room, South Molton, Devon EX36 3AB

We present a variety of François Couperin’s instrumental compositions in both the Italian and French styles: formal dances and character pieces, sonatas and harpsichord solo pieces. Our dancers will dance where appropriate. This is an exploration: can music be danced to, if it was not in the first place composed to be danced to? At the centre of the programme is Jean-Féry Rebel’s composition ‘Les Caractères de la Dance’, written as an interval piece for solo dancer. Find out more

Mystery Sonatas

Friday 24 May, 8.15 pm

Oud-Katholieke Kerk ’t Huis te Poort, Dam 30, 3111 BD Schiedam, The Netherlands

Nicolette Moonen and Pawel Siwczak play a selection of Biber’s Mystery (or Rosary) Sonatas. Pawel Siwczak will also play organ music by composers of Biber’s time. Find out more

Mystery Sonatas

Sunday 19 May, 6.30 pm

St Saviour’s Church, Eton Road, South Hampstead, London, NW3 4SU

Nicolette Moonen and Pawel Siwczak play a selection of Biber’s Mystery (or Rosary) Sonatas. Pawel Siwczak will also play organ music by composers of Biber’s time. Find out more

Dance of the Nations

Saturday 11 May, 7.15 pm

London Festival of Baroque Music: St John’s Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HA

The Bach Players join hands with Ricardo Barros’s Mercurius Company to present a concert that embodies the European idea in music and dance. Musicians and dancers have always travelled, both in mind and in body, and this programme will take you on a journey across the Continent: from Russia and Turkey, through Switzerland, Italy, France, and on to Spain and Portugal. Our performers come from Brazil, Britain, Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands. The music will be both played and danced to, providing an enjoyable reminder that dance was fundamental to music in the baroque period, and part of the fabric of everyday life then. Telemann’s suite ‘Les Nations’, in which the characters of European countries are depicted in music, is followed by Rebel’s ‘Les caractères de la danse’: a compendium of the main dance forms of the period, performed by Ricardo Barros. Vivaldi’s passionate and hugely popular set of variations on ‘La Follia’ takes on fresh meanings when danced out. The concert concludes with Telemann’s ‘burlesque’ of Don Quixotte. The Spanish nobleman of Cervantes’s novel lives in an imaginary world in which he chases windmills and hankers after sweet Dulcinée. He prefers his fantasies to the reality of the world: a fable for the times in which we live? The concert will be presented in the round, in the main body of the church, and can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Find out more

A hop and step across the Channel: learn to dance a Gavotte and a Menuet with Ricardo Barros

Saturday 11 May, 10.30 am

London Festival of Baroque Music: St John’s Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HA

Follow English dancing master Mr Isaac’s footsteps and hop across the channel for a dancing ‘entente cordiale’. Learn contredanses in the two most popular forms of the Baroque period: the gavotte ‘La Bonne Amitié’ by Feuillet (1706) and the ‘Menuet Anglois’ by Lorin (1698).

Dance of the Nations

Thursday 9 May, 7.30 pm

The Garage, 14 Chapel Field North, Norwich NR2 1NY

The Bach Players join hands with Ricardo Barros to present a concert that embodies the European idea in music and dance. Artists have always travelled and this programme will take you on a journey across the continent. Some of the music will be danced to, providing an enjoyable reminder that dance was fundamental to music in the baroque period. Telemann’s suite ‘Les Nations’, in which the characters of European countries are depicted in music, is followed by Rebel’s ‘Les Caractères de la danse’: a compendium of the main dance forms of the period. In Telemann’s ‘burlesque’ of Don Quichotte the Spanish nobleman of Cervantes’s novel lives in an imaginary world in which he chases windmills and hankers after sweet Dulcinée. A fable for the times in which we live? The concert concludes with Vivaldi’s passionate and hugely popular set of variations on ‘La Follia’. The concert can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
Find out more

The Seven Last Words

Sunday 31 March, 5.00 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

In the approach to Easter, The Bach Players perform Joseph Haydn’s Seven Last Words in the version for string quartet. Haydn’s composition was extraordinarily popular in his own time; following the original composition for full orchestra, he wrote the chamber version and then another for orchestra and choir. Charles Burney, who heard an early performance of the version for string quartet, wrote in 1791 that it was ‘perhaps, the most sublime composition without words to point out its meaning that has ever been composed’. The concert will be played without an interval. Find out more

The Seven Last Words

Saturday 30 March, 7.30 pm

St Dominic’s Priory, Southampton Road, London NW5 4LB

In the approach to Easter, The Bach Players perform Joseph Haydn’s Seven Last Words in the version for string quartet. Haydn’s composition was extraordinarily popular in his own time; following the original composition for full orchestra, he wrote the chamber version and then another for orchestra and choir. Charles Burney, who heard an early performance of the version for string quartet, wrote in 1791 that it was ‘perhaps, the most sublime composition without words to point out its meaning that has ever been composed’. The concert will take place in the Lady Chapel, and will be played without an interval. Find out more

Biber: the Joyful Mysteries

Sunday 9 December, 5.00 pm

St Swithin’s Church, Clunbury, Shropshire SY7 0HG

In the days leading up to Christmas, Nicolette Moonen (violin) and Pawel Siwczak (organ) perform the first five of the Rosary Sonatas by H.I.F. Biber (1644–1704). In these sonatas, Biber’s highly descriptive music addresses and describes the birth of Christ and the events that surrounded it. Pawel Siwczak will also play organ music by composers of Biber’s time. The concert will take place in this beautiful parish church, built originally in the twelfth century, and will be candlelit. Find out more

A musical offering

Saturday 20 October, 8.15 pm

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

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) is a late work that both looks back to the tradition in which he was grounded and forward to the music of his sons. The concert opens with a sonata by Buxtehude, Bach’s admired elder: we hear the ‘stylus phantasticus’ in full flight, with its unpredictable structures and sometimes startling improvisatory freedoms. The fashionable flute features in the Paris quartets by Telemann, Bach’s close contemporary. No. 6 in E minor is in the French galant style – a succession of character pieces, culminating in a wonderful chaconne. The Musical Offering is often taken to be a disjointed collection of fragments, dominated by the culminating, beautiful trio sonata. This performance treats the work as an essay in the musical rhetoric in which Bach was immersed. The succession of canons and fugues become a speech – a musical oration, in which factual statements are then elaborated on and developed in argumentative sections, interspersed with charming passages that may seduce the listener. The sonata then gives free rein to the whole spectrum of emotions. The work concludes with a final, calming ‘perpetual canon’. This is a chance to hear Bach’s famous piece with fresh ears. Find out more

A musical offering

Thursday 18 October, 7.30 pm

St John’s Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HA

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) is a late work that both looks back to the tradition in which he was grounded and forward to the music of his sons. The concert opens with a sonata by Buxtehude, Bach’s admired elder: we hear the ‘stylus phantasticus’ in full flight, with its unpredictable structures and sometimes startling improvisatory freedoms. The fashionable flute features in the Paris quartets by Telemann, Bach’s close contemporary. No. 6 in E minor is in the French galant style – a succession of character pieces, culminating in a wonderful chaconne. The Musical Offering is often taken to be a disjointed collection of fragments, dominated by the culminating, beautiful trio sonata. This performance treats the work as an essay in the musical rhetoric in which Bach was immersed. The succession of canons and fugues become a speech – a musical oration, in which factual statements are then elaborated on and developed in argumentative sections, interspersed with charming passages that may seduce the listener. The sonata then gives free rein to the whole spectrum of emotions. The work concludes with a final, calming ‘perpetual canon’. This is a chance to hear Bach’s famous piece with fresh ears.
Find out more

A musical offering

Wednesday 17 October, 7.30 pm

Dorset County Museum Concert Society: St Mary’s Church, Edward Road, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 2HJ

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) is a late work that both looks back to the tradition in which he was grounded and forward to the music of his sons. The concert opens with a sonata by Buxtehude, Bach’s admired elder: we hear the ‘stylus phantasticus’ in full flight, with its unpredictable structures and sometimes startling improvisatory freedoms. The fashionable flute features in the Paris quartets by Telemann, Bach’s close contemporary. No. 6 in E minor is in the French galant style – a succession of character pieces, culminating in a wonderful chaconne. The Musical Offering is often taken to be a disjointed collection of fragments, dominated by the culminating, beautiful trio sonata. This performance treats the work as an essay in the musical rhetoric in which Bach was immersed. The succession of canons and fugues become a speech – a musical oration, in which factual statements are then elaborated on and developed in argumentative sections, interspersed with charming passages that may seduce the listener. The sonata then gives free rein to the whole spectrum of emotions. The work concludes with a final, calming ‘perpetual canon’. This is a chance to hear Bach’s famous piece with fresh ears. Find out more

A musical offering: the art of eloquence

Sunday 14 October, 3.00 pm

Little Missenden Festival: Church of St John the Baptist, Little Missenden, Amersham, Bucks HP7 0RA

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) is a late work that looks both back to the tradition in which he worked and forwards to the music of his sons. We play this dazzling piece in the context of music by Bach’s esteemed elders: Buxtehude and Pachelbel Find out more

A musical offering

Saturday 13 October, 7.30 pm

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

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) is a late work that both looks back to the tradition in which he was grounded and forward to the music of his sons. The concert opens with a sonata by Buxtehude, Bach’s admired elder: we hear the ‘stylus phantasticus’ in full flight, with its unpredictable structures and sometimes startling improvisatory freedoms. The fashionable flute features in the Paris quartets by Telemann, Bach’s close contemporary. No. 6 in E minor is in the French galant style – a succession of character pieces, culminating in a wonderful chaconne. The Musical Offering is often taken to be a disjointed collection of fragments, dominated by the culminating, beautiful trio sonata. This performance treats the work as an essay in the musical rhetoric in which Bach was immersed. The succession of canons and fugues become a speech – a musical oration, in which factual statements are then elaborated on and developed in argumentative sections, interspersed with charming passages that may seduce the listener. The sonata then gives free rein to the whole spectrum of emotions. The work concludes with a final, calming ‘perpetual canon’. This is a chance to hear Bach’s famous piece with fresh ears. Find out more

A musical offering: the art of eloquence

Thursday 11 October, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Musical Offering (BWV 1079) is a late work that looks both back to the tradition in which he worked and forwards to the music of his sons. We play this dazzling piece in the context of music by Bach’s esteemed elders: Buxtehude and Pachelbel Find out more

Couperin: l’Art de la Danse

Sunday 2 September, 3.00 pm

Utrecht Early Music Festival: Hertzzaal Tivoli Vredenburg, Vredenburgkade 11, 3511 WC Utrecht

We present a variety of François Couperin’s instrumental compositions in both the Italian and French styles: formal dances and character pieces, sonatas and harpsichord solo pieces. Our dancers will dance where appropriate. This is an exploration: can music be danced to, if it was not in the first place composed to be danced to? At the centre of the programme is Jean-Féry Rebel’s composition ‘Les Caractères de la Dance’, written as an interval piece for solo dancer. Find out more

Italy versus France

Thursday 5 July, 7.00 pm

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

Italian or French? In the later seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in Europe, two national musical styles were seen as opposing and in contest, though composers increasingly brought them together. This concert brings the styles to life in works by some of the brilliant composers of the times: Corelli, Couperin, Clérambault, Rameau. We are playing in a perfect setting: the wood-panelled music room at Burgh House Find out more

Italy versus France

Wednesday 4 July, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

Italian or French? In the later seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in Europe, two national musical styles were seen as opposing and in contest, though composers increasingly brought them together. This concert brings the styles to life in works by some of the brilliant composers of the times: Corelli, Couperin, Clérambault, Rameau Find out more

Pour le souper du roi

Sunday 13 May, 3.00 pm

London Festival of Baroque Music: St Peter’s Church, Eaton Square, 119 Eaton Square, London SW1W 9AL

This programme paints a musical picture of the chamber music presented to Louis XIV and Louis XV. The featured composers were among their favourites, allowed into the inner circle of the king and given the title ‘musicien pour la chambre du Roy’: their tasks included providing music for the king in his private chambers. Some of the best chamber music of the period was written for these occasions. The concert offers a rich and various banquet of preludes, suites, sonatas and character pieces, and shows the passage from French to Italian styles. Find out more

Biber: the Glorious Mysteries

Saturday 12 May, 7.30 pm

St Dominic’s Priory, Southampton Road, London NW5 4LB

The third of three concerts in which Nicolette Moonen (violin) and Pawel Siwczak (organ) perform all of the Rosary Sonatas by H.I.F. Biber (1644–1704) – by candle light, in the appropriate side-chapels at St Dominic’s, and in the appropriate liturgical season. In this concert they play the third cycle of sonatas, concerned with the resurrection of Christ and the events that surrounded it. Pawel Siwczak will also play organ music by composers of Biber’s time. After the concert (which runs for about an hour), the Dominican friars invite the audience for drinks, and there will be time to look at the wonderful interior architecture of St Dominic’s. Families with children are very welcome to attend.
Find out more

Stabat Mater

Tuesday 13 March, 7.30 pm

Leamington Music: St Mary’s Church, Old Square, Warwick CV34 4RA

Boccherini’s Stabat Mater is a work of compelling intensity that stands out among the many settings of this text. We are performing the original, chamber version of the piece, scored for string quintet with two cellos; interspersed will be movements from Haydn’s The Seven Last Words. As well as shared themes there is a historical connection here: it is possible that Boccherini, a great admirer of his older colleague, played a part in securing the commission for Haydn to write The Seven Last Words, first performed in Cadiz. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear Boccherini’s Stabat Mater. Find out more

Stabat Mater

Saturday 10 March, 7.30 pm

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

Boccherini’s Stabat Mater is a work of compelling intensity that stands out among the many settings of this text. We are performing the original, chamber version of the piece, scored for string quintet with two cellos; interspersed will be movements from Haydn’s The Seven Last Words. As well as shared themes there is a historical connection here: it is possible that Boccherini, a great admirer of his older colleague, played a part in securing the commission for Haydn to write The Seven Last Words, first performed in Cadiz. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear Boccherini’s Stabat Mater.

Stabat Mater

Thursday 8 March, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

Boccherini’s Stabat Mater is a work of compelling intensity that stands out among the many settings of this text. We are performing the original, chamber version of the piece, scored for string quintet with two cellos; interspersed will be movements from Haydn’s The Seven Last Words. As well as shared themes there is a historical connection here: it is possible that Boccherini, a great admirer of his older colleague, played a part in securing the commission for Haydn to write The Seven Last Words, first performed in Cadiz. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear Boccherini’s Stabat Mater. Find out more

Biber: the Sorrowful Mysteries

Saturday 24 February, 7.30 pm

St Dominic’s Priory, Southampton Road, London NW5 4LB

The second of three concerts in which Nicolette Moonen (violin) and Pawel Siwczak (organ) perform all of the Rosary Sonatas by H.I.F. Biber (1644–1704) – by candle light, in the appropriate side-chapels at St Dominic’s, and in the appropriate liturgical season. In this concert they play the second cycle of five sonatas, concerned with the death of Christ and the events that surrounded it. Also included will be Gregorian chant, sung by the friars of St Dominic’s. After the concert (which runs for about an hour), the Dominican friars invite the audience for drinks, and there will be time to look at the wonderful interior architecture of St Dominic’s. Families with children are very welcome to attend.
Find out more

Biber: the Joyful Mysteries

Saturday 2 December, 7.30 pm

St Dominic’s Priory, Southampton Road, London NW5 4LB

The first of three concerts in which Nicolette Moonen (violin) and Pawel Siwczak (organ) perform all of the Rosary Sonatas by H.I.F. Biber (1644–1704) – by candle light, in the appropriate side-chapels at St Dominic’s, and in the appropriate liturgical season. In this concert they play the first five sonatas, concerned with the birth of Christ and the events that surrounded it. Pawel Siwczak will also play organ music by composers of Biber’s time. After the concert (which runs for about an hour), the Dominican friars invite the audience for drinks, and there will be time to look at the wonderful interior architecture of St Dominic’s. Families with children are very welcome to attend. Find out more

Sound the trumpet!

Sunday 22 October, 5.00 pm

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

To mark our twentieth anniversary, we return to our beginnings to present an all-Bach programme: two joyous, well-known cantatas, complemented by two celebrated instrumental works. ‘Weichet nur betrübte Schatten’ is a wedding canata for solo soprano voice; ‘Jauchzet Gott’ gives virtuosic parts to solo soprano and trumpet. The trumpet is featured also in Brandenburg Concerto no. 2. We will also play selections from the Art of Fugue. This will be a special, celebratory event. Find out more

The Food of Love

Saturday 14 October, 7.45 pm

Georgian Concert Society: St Andrew’s & St George’s West, 13 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PA

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

Sound the trumpet!

Saturday 7 October, 7.30 pm

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

To mark our twentieth anniversary, we return to our beginnings to present an all-Bach programme: two joyous, well-known cantatas, complemented by two celebrated instrumental works. ‘Weichet nur betrübte Schatten’ is a wedding canata for solo soprano voice; ‘Jauchzet Gott’ gives virtuosic parts to solo soprano and trumpet. The trumpet is featured also in Brandenburg Concerto no. 2. We will also play selections from the Art of Fugue. This will be a special, celebratory event – with extra features to be revealed on the night. Find out more

Sound the trumpet!

Thursday 5 October, 7.30 pm

The Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BN

To mark our twentieth anniversary, we return to our beginnings to present an all-Bach programme: two joyous, well-known cantatas, complemented by two celebrated instrumental works. ‘Weichet nur betrübte Schatten’ is a wedding canata for solo soprano voice; ‘Jauchzet Gott’ gives virtuosic parts to solo soprano and trumpet. The trumpet is featured also in Brandenburg Concerto no. 2. We will also play selections from the Art of Fugue. This will be a special, celebratory event. Find out more

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