Johann Sebastian Bach has been a guiding light for generations of musicians. His music is revered, his legacy immeasurable, his place in the classical music canon foundational.

But Bach’s music is no monolith, and that’s where his true genius lies. That’s why his work continues to be played today. 

Mozart and Mendelssohn learnt their craft in the generations immediately after Bach’s death, and in arranging his music they allowed its spirit to infuse their own. 

In the past 50 years, Caroline Shaw, Elena Kats-Chernin and Sofia Gubaidulina have all approached Bach from their unique cultural and personal perspectives, providing a fascinating and moving lens on what the composer means to people across the world today.

In this intimately scaled presentation, four musicians from the Australian Chamber Orchestra – widely considered one of the world’s greatest chamber ensembles – will bring together excerpts from some of Bach’s beloved works with music he has inspired across four centuries, including Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw’s Punctum and Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin’s Reinvention No. 1.

PROGRAM  

JS Bach (arr. Bernard Labadie) Goldberg Variations: Selections
Caroline Shaw Punctum 
JS Bach (arr. Calvin Bowman) "O Mensch, bewein' dein' Sünde groß", BWV622
JS Bach Two-Part Inventions, No.8 in F major, BWV779 
Elena Kats-Chernin Reinvention No.1
Sofia Gubaidulina Reflections on the Theme of B-A-C-H 
JS Bach Three-Part Inventions, No.9 in F minor, BWV795
JS Bach (arr. Mozart) The Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2: Fugue in E-flat major, BWV876

Grab your physical program at ACO, The Neilson on the night of the performance.

TEMPERAMENT SERIES

JS Bach is a true avant-gardist. Temperament – a week-long celebration and deconstruction of Bach – pays homage to the revolutionary advances his music enabled and its influence on modern composers.

This series features an exceptional group of local and international artists and ensembles including Bach Akademie Australia, Korkmaz Can Sağlam, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Andrew Bukenya, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Benjamin Skepper and Ensemble Apex.