Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn (You true God and Son of David), BWV 23, is a soulful contemplation of eternity and forgiveness. It was also potentially another work Bach submitted in application for the job as music director in Leipzig (the other being Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe, BWV 22 performed in February 2024’s event). The unusual final movement interweaves the chorale with instrumental interludes in a German setting of the ‘Agnus dei’ from the Mass.
For anyone that’s ever imagined what it would be like to watch a double sunset on Tatooine or stand among the sand dunes of Arrakis, this month’s guest speaker, Keith Cooper, is here to answer our questions about where science fiction and science fact meet. As we mark 30 years since the first, long-awaited discovery of exoplanets orbiting another star, he takes us at warp speed through how we got from our Earth-centric understanding of the Universe to the tantalising possibility that these far away worlds once only imaginable as part of science fiction are really out there. In fact, the truth may just be even stranger.
Keith Cooper is a writer and journalist who is currently editor of Astronomy Now (the magazine co-founded by Sir Patrick Moore). His latest book is Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact.
