Main menu

Search

Bach, the Universe & Everything: How to Build an Atmosphere

London, King's Place

Sunday 14 March 2027, 11:30

Book now

Music

PACHELBEL Was mein Gott will, das geschah’ allzeit
DERING Ardens est cor meum
JS BACH Ihr werdet weinen und heulen, BWV 103
(You shall weep and wail)
TELEMANN Concerto for 2 Oboe d’amore, cello & strings (TWV 53:D3)
Performers

Steven Devine series music director/organ

with
Simon Clark guest speaker

Duration

75 minutes

Price

£22 + fees

Darkness. Wonder. Light. Bach's music and atmospheric science come together in an exploration of beauty emerging from uncertainty, and how joy can be found in the darkest places.

In Ihr werdet weinen und heulen Bach confronts the paradox that in life sadness and joy can exist at the same time. Starting out in B minor, a key that he reserved for some of his most profound music, the cantata gives voice to the promise held in the opening lines that “You shall weep and wail… yet your sorrow shall be changed into joy.” Bach responds with music that blends emotional intensity, imagination and some of his most daringly operatic writing.

Have you ever wondered why our planet’s atmosphere flows from west to east? Or even why it moves at all. Guest speaker Simon Clark will build an atmosphere from scratch, and layer by layer recreate our planet’s beautiful firmament. Simon Clark is a science communicator with a background in atmospheric physics, specialising in discussing the climate crisis on his eponymous YouTube channel.

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

Did you know you can support the OAE?

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

£20

£60

£180

You might also be interested in...

Photograph of Earthset seen from the Moon on board Artemis II

London, King's Place

Bach, the Universe & Everything: We Will Explore

Sun 21 Feb 2027

The road stretches into darkness. This month, Bach, the Universe and Everything explores hope in the face of doubt and the remarkable drive of humans to journey beyond our earthly limits.

Book now Find out more

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

St John Passion

Wed 10 Mar 2027

John Butt conducts Bach's earliest surviving passion. An intense musical drama in which the eternal and mortal collide as the raw, human tragedy of Jesus' death plays out against the backdrop of divine history.

Book now Find out more

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

Vivaldi For Many

Fri 16 Apr 2027

Sparkling solo concertos and vibrant ‘concerti con molti strumenti’ give wings to the collective virtuosity of the OAE.

Book now Find out more

London, King's Place

Bach, the Universe & Everything: We Will Explore

Sun 21 Feb 2027

The road stretches into darkness. This month, Bach, the Universe and Everything explores hope in the face of doubt and the remarkable drive of humans to journey beyond our earthly limits.

Book now Find out more

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

St John Passion

Wed 10 Mar 2027

Book now Find out more

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

Vivaldi For Many

Fri 16 Apr 2027

Sparkling solo concertos and vibrant ‘concerti con molti strumenti’ give wings to the collective virtuosity of the OAE.

Book now Find out more

Support us

Be part of our story

Main menu

Support us

Our Mission

Support us

Be part of our story

Search

Support us

Be part of our story

Bach, the Universe & Everything: How to Build an Atmosphere

London, King's Place

Sunday 14 March 2027, 11:30

Event detail

Darkness. Wonder. Light. Bach's music and atmospheric science come together in an exploration of beauty emerging from uncertainty, and how joy can be found in the darkest places.

Richard Dering

Expect awe, beauty and big ideas

Did you know you can support the OAE?

Hear it first

Sign up to our newsletter