Toutes Suites NOT Toots Sweets
Thu 9 May 2019
Can you play Toutes Suites on a Toot Sweet? We asked our Principal flute, Lisa Beznosiuk, to give it a go.
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I’ve heard that before!
Thu 2 May 2019
It appears as though Bach’s Orchestral Suites aren’t only popular in the concert hall.
Read MoreBach, the Universe and Everything Podcast 3
Sat 23 Feb 2019
Here’s the latest Bach, the Universe and Everything podcast taken from the series at Kings Place.
Read MoreBach, the Universe and Everything podcast
Fri 7 Dec 2018
Lots of you have been asking for a listen again option for our Bach, the Universe and Everything series at Kings Place, so here it is!
Read MoreComposers and space
Thu 18 Oct 2018
“For the same reason we are bound to believe that, as neither the beautiful neither the ugly is universal,” claimed the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1844. “Certain operas, which are every day represented and applauded (on Earth), will be hissed off the stage on Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Venus.”
Read MoreMark Padmore explores Bach’s St Matthew Passion
Mon 26 Mar 2018
“It’s designed to disturb. It should get under the skin and worry us.”
Mark Padmore explores Bach’s St Matthew Passion, and the advantages of performing it without a conductor.
Read MorePerforming the St Matthew Passion
Fri 23 Mar 2018
Leader Matthew Truscott tells us what it’s like to perform Bach’s St Matthew Passion without a conductor, but instead following the breathing of singer and director, Mark Padmore.
Read MoreBach’s B minor Mass (1748)
Following much-praised accounts of the St John Passion and Christmas Oratorio, conductor Stephen Layton now turns to Bach’s mighty B minor Mass.
Read MoreSymmetry in music: Particle physicist Tara Shears
Thu 4 Jan 2018
Professor Tara Shears came to talk to us about antimatter as part of our Bach, the Universe and Everything series at Kings Place. We learnt there is more connecting Bach and particle physics than you might imagine.
Read MoreWhat is a Cantata?
Fri 24 Nov 2017
What exactly is a Cantata?
Bach wrote over 200 of these mini-operas in his role as Cantor at various churches. Their sheer volume and unfamiliarity might seem overwhelming, but don’t let that put you off. Our co-principal keyboard Steven Devine explains all as he accompanies soprano Rowan Pierce in Bach’s Cantata Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten (Yield now, troubling shadows) BWV202.
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Introducing the Baroque Violin
Mon 5 Jun 2017
‘The gut strings make a more gutsy sound’
If you think a violin from the 18th Century is the same as one made yesterday, think again…
Violinist Huw Daniel reveals the differences between the baroque instrument and the modern one.
Read MoreBach Goes to Prague
Wed 31 May 2017
This week Emily and Alex from our Development team took a bunch of OAE Patrons, some of the Orchestra’s most loyal supporters, to Prague. They discovered castles, stag dos, and a little bit of Bach. Emily tells the story:
Read MoreIntroducing the Baroque Flute
Fri 12 May 2017
“The wood makes the sound gentler and more… woody”
Meet the flute that our principal Lisa Beznosiuk uses for playing Bach, Handel, Rameau and people like that.
Read MoreIntroducing the Baroque Horn
Wed 3 May 2017
‘It’s quite a direct, unfiltered sound.’
OAE Principal Horn Roger Montgomery takes us through the Baroque Horn and shows us how it differs from the modern instrument.
Read MoreMad skillz from footballer turned harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone
Fri 28 Oct 2016
Catch him doing the harpsichord thing (no football planned as yet) with the OAE on Sunday at St John’s Smith Square. More info and book tickets
Read MoreBach: A Family Affair concert programme
Thu 27 Oct 2016
Here’s the Bach: A Family Affair programme. You can also pick up a physical copy free of charge at the concert.
Read MoreIntroducing Turning Points
Wed 29 Jun 2016
We’re an orchestra, so we love concerts. But because the traditional concert format is great for some people and not for others, we often ask ourselves the question, “how could concerts be different?” Ten years ago, we looked at the informal ways people used to listen to classical music and created The Night Shift, our rule-breaking late night format.
Read MoreFrom deep within the OAE archive #1: Bach’s double violin concerto
Fri 20 Nov 2015
Margaret Faultless introduces a 1990 recording from BBC Scotland featuring the first movement of Bach’s double violin concerto.
Spot current OAE players Alison Bury (soloist), Cathy Weiss, Richard Tunnicliffe, Annette Isserlis, and Margaret Faultless.
We perform the same piece at St John’s Smith Square on 24 November (with Margaret) and the West London Synagogue on 22 November.
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Pre-concert talk: performing the St Matthew Passion without a conductor
Wed 8 Apr 2015
If you were at one of our recent performances of Bach’s St Matthew Passion you will have noted the absence of a usually ubiquitous figure – the conductor.
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