The Brandenburg Concertos On Tour in Oxford

The Brandenburg Concertos present one of music’s great riddles. Their history reads like the script for classic adventure caper:  we don’t know why Bach gifted them in 1721 as a set to the Margrave of Brandenburg or exactly what he did with them; they were then ‘lost’ in the library of a Princess for around a century before being rediscovered and published in 1850; and the manuscript was nearly lost for ever during World War II when the train carrying it to safety was blown up…

Then there are the riddles in the music itself. Why Bach chose the unprecedented combinations of instruments, who he envisaged playing this music of endless inventiveness which demands a supergroup ensemble of virtuosos, or if he intended them to be performed as a collected set at all.

It all calls for a team of musical sleuths who can put the clues together to unmask the real Brandenburg Concertos.

General admission with unreserved seating.

There are three seating areas in the Sheldonian Theatre – click here to view a seating plan. Within each area seating will be unreserved – when booking please select the area you wish to sit in and the number of tickets you require. Tickets for this event are sold directly by the OAE and you are very welcome to contact us directly via [email protected]  or 020 8159 9322 for assistance with booking.