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Bach, the Universe & Everything: Finding Grace

London, King's Place

Sunday 13 December 2026, 11:30

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Music

JS BACH Vater Unser im Himmelreich, BWV 737
DERING Quem vidistis, pastores?
JS BACH Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben, BWV 102
(Lord, your eyes look for faith)
STOLZEL Adagio & Allegro from Concerto in E minor
for flute, oboe & strings
Performers

Steven Devine series music director/organ

Duration

75 minutes

Price

£22 + fees

Are you ready? Our Advent edition of Bach, the Universe and Everything asks a timeless question: how do we respond when we are challenged to change and grow?

Every era faces moments when the old certainties no longer hold. Bach’s cantatas were composed for audiences living through their own social and personal upheavals, exploring themes of reckoning, resilience and renewal that still resonate today.

Written during his third year in Leipzig, Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben (BWV 102) was one of the rare cantatas to remain in circulation in the decades immediately after Bach’s death. It was championed by his son CPE Bach and published earlier than many of the other cantatas. This is Bach at his most compelling: from the powerful sculpted opening chorus to the theatrical flair of its solo arias.

Richard Dering

This season features motets by the English composer Richard Dering (c.1580–1630). A Catholic convert, he spent much of his career working in continental Europe before returning to England in 1625 to serve in the court of Queen Henrietta Maria. Dering’s music bridged the Renaissance and Baroque styles.

Expect awe, beauty and big ideas

Bach, the Universe and Everything returns with a new season of adventures.

Inspired by the music of JS Bach, composer and intergalactic genius, this is a concert season with a difference.

This season, Bach, the Universe and Everything chronicles humanity’s quest to understand the cosmos. From the revolutionary instruments that opened our ancestors’ eyes to the night sky to the giant telescopes now peering deeper into space than ever before, we chart the breakthroughs that changed everything. We’ll unravel the force that binds the universe together, witness humanity’s determination to explore further from our planet than we’ve gone before, and discover how the atmosphere that sustains life on Earth is created.

Across six concerts, music and science combine to tell the story of humanity’s enduring search to understand the universe and our place within it.

Violinist Julia Kuhn and bass player Cecelia Bryggemyer playing in the playground at Acland burghley School

Japanese conductor Masaaki Suzuki conducts the OAE with singer Florian Stortz

OAE musicians run a workshop in a school classroom

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We are redefining what it means to be an orchestra in the 2020s. Support the OAE today.

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Bach, the Universe & Everything: Finding Grace

London, King's Place

Sunday 13 December 2026, 11:30

Event detail

Are you ready? Our Advent edition of Bach, the Universe and Everything asks a timeless question: how do we respond when we are challenged to change and grow?

Richard Dering

Expect awe, beauty and big ideas

Did you know you can support the OAE?

Hear it first

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