Royal Academy of Music Baroque Orchestra: Bach at Kings Place

This programme combines familiar masterpieces with rare treasures. Encounter Bach, the arranger, Bach, the borrower and Bach, the family man. The glorious Mass in A major combines choral forces, orchestra and solo voices with great variety and expressivity including movements from Cantatas and beautiful obbligatos for two traverse flutes. For 'Gerechre kommt un' Bach takes Kuhnau's motet 'Tristis est anima mean' and adapts it, translates it into the vernacular German for his congregation's comprehension and adds orchestral accompaniment. The harpsichord concerto in E major is an arrangement of a lost oboe Concerto that Bach transcribed for one of his sons to play in Zimmerman's coffee house in Leipzig. No doubt he wrote the C major double harpsichord concerto to play himself alongside one of his many talented sons as the good citizens of Leipzig enjoyed their newly found guilty pleasure, coffee.