Dedicated to Frederick the Great following Bach’s visit to his palace of Sans-Souci in Potsdam, The Musical Offering contains music as fine as anything Bach ever composed. Dunedin Consort’s Director John Butt, one of the world’s leading Bach experts, explores how such a unique work came into being and the remarkable techniques Bach used to create this timeless masterpiece.

The richness of five-part instrumental writing was not new to the 18th century: German, Italian and French composers had all been exploiting this sonority for decades. But it was Georg Muffatt, born in Savoy of Scottish parentage, who for the first time aimed to reconcile these styles into a single genre. His music, remarkable in its expressive range, combines the sophistication and rhythmic poise of the French, the vibrancy and colour of the Italians and the depth and richness of…

The richness of five-part instrumental writing was not new to the 18th century: German, Italian and French composers had all been exploiting this sonority for decades. But it was Georg Muffatt, born in Savoy of Scottish parentage, who for the first time aimed to reconcile these styles into a single genre. His music, remarkable in its expressive range, combines the sophistication and rhythmic poise of the French, the vibrancy and colour of the Italians and the depth and richness of…

Ben Parry director The Spanish Golden Age, which flourished during the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries, led to some of the most gloriously opulent choral music of the late Renaissance. Ben Parry, co-founder of Dunedin Consort, returns to direct this choral tour of music by Tomás Luis de Victoria and Francisco Guerrero, framed here both by the works of their Scottish contemporaries Robert Johnson and David Peebles, and by those of 21st-century composers Morten Lauridsen and James MacMillan, whose vocal writing resounds…

Ben Parry director The Spanish Golden Age, which flourished during the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries, led to some of the most gloriously opulent choral music of the late Renaissance. Ben Parry, co-founder of Dunedin Consort, returns to direct this choral tour of music by Tomás Luis de Victoria and Francisco Guerrero, framed here both by the works of their Scottish contemporaries Robert Johnson and David Peebles, and by those of 21st-century composers Morten Lauridsen and James MacMillan, whose vocal writing resounds…

When Handel’s Messiah was first unveiled to the public in 1742, it caused a sensation. Dublin’s Musick Hall was so full that the men attended ‘without swords’ and the ladies were asked to wear skirts ‘without hoops’ to make room for more listeners. The press declared a triumph: ‘The Sublime, the Grand, and the Tender... conspired to transport and charm the ravished Heart and Ear.’ More than 250 years on, it still holds a remarkable place in the repertoire, its…

When Handel’s Messiah was first unveiled to the public in 1742, it caused a sensation. Dublin’s Musick Hall was so full that the men attended ‘without swords’ and the ladies were asked to wear skirts ‘without hoops’ to make room for more listeners. The press declared a triumph: ‘The Sublime, the Grand, and the Tender... conspired to transport and charm the ravished Heart and Ear.’ More than 250 years on, it still holds a remarkable place in the repertoire, its…