A 26-minute video has been launched featuring the Oxford Bach Soloists 2016 tour to Germany with Singing the Reformation under their director Tom Hammond Davies.
The film traces the tour in July to some of the most fascinating historic buildings in Lower Saxony. Several of the buildings are former convents with historical roots stretching back over many centuries
Created by film-maker Dr Alex Lloyd, Singing the Reformation is part of the knowledge-exchange project Recording the Reformation, led by Prof. Henrike Lähnemann at the University of Oxford.
Looking ahead to next year, Henrike has announced that she is planning an exciting project for 2017 with a return to the area to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. This will explore the history behind one of Martin Luther’s best known Reformation tunes, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God) which ends with Bach’s famous cantata on that melody.
Coming up this Christmas Eve at 5pm is JS Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in the atmospheric setting of New College, Oxford. This promises to be one of Oxford’s most evocative seasonal events with the first three parts of this glittering 1734 masterpiece portraying the Birth of Jesus, the annunciation to the shepherds, and the adoration of the shepherds. Tickets are available online.
Following the performance the Oxford Bach Soloists will take us into Christmas Day itself from 11pm with Midnight Mass (free admission).
