The Creativity Code
Bach Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Now come, Saviour of the gentiles I) BWV61
Professor Marcus du Sautoy Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and Professor of Mathematics, University of Oxford
Sofia Larsson soprano
Hugo Hymas tenor
Dominic Sedgwick bass
Bach, the Universe and Everything is our very own Sunday service for inquiring and curious minds; a place to bond with music lovers and revel in the wonders of science.
The science
Could computers put composers out of job? Professor Marcus du Sautoy’s latest book, The Creativity Code: How AI is Learning to Write, Paint and Think, explores creativity, algorithms, and whether artificial intelligence will ever be able to write a cantata quite like Bach.
The music
To mark the start of Advent, the Orchestra plays one of Bach’s Christmas cantatas, full of anticipation for the big day. It’s an unusual cantata, bringing in element of secular French opera, such as an Overture, into church music.