Laments i danses (Laments and Dances)

Bringing together music of grief and vitality by Bach and Buxtehude. Directed by Mark Padmore (tenor) and Kati Debretzeni (violin), the programme includes three cantatas by Bach contemplating mortality as part of our grand cosmic journey with two of his orchestral suites celebrating the joys of life and music.

As a young man, Bach undertook a 400-mile walk to hear Buxtehude perform, and he was perhaps the composer he admired above all others. Buxtehude composed the haunting Klag-Lied in memory of his father. Its influence can be heard in the three cantatas by Bach.

Brimming with flamboyant overtures, airs and dances, Bach’s Orchestral Suites are significant works that lit the way for the development of the classical symphony. They contain some of Bach’s best-loved pieces, including the Badinerie from No. 2 and the ‘Air on the G String’ in No. 3.