Florilegium will be joined by mezzo soprano Helen Charlston in their programme entitled Father, Son and Godfather at Wigmore Hall. This programme will include Bach’s beautiful Cantata ‘Vegnugte Ruh’ which must rank as one of Bach′s most original cantatas. It is not his first for solo alto, but was certainly the first written during his Leipzig years and uses the organ as an obbligato instrument in two of the arias.

Bach’s close friend Telemann is represented with one of his smaller scale cantatas from his vast collection entitled ‘Der Harmonisches Gottesdienst’ and well as an orchestral suite. The programme also includes a flute concerto by Telemann’s godson CPE Bach and his father’s challenging and unique Ricercar in 6 parts from the ‘Musical Offering’ – a work dedicated to Frederick the Great in 1747.

Telemann forged a lasting friendship with Johann Sebastian Bach in the early 1700s and stood as godfather to Bach’s second surviving son, Carl Philipp Emanuel. Florilegium and Helen Charlston trace the points of connection and departure preserved within their music.

Programme:

Georg Philipp Telemann - Orchestral Suite in A TWV55:A1
Johann Sebastian Bach - The Musical Offering BWV1079 - Ricercar a6
Georg Philipp Telemann - Ihr Völker hört TWV1:921
Interval
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Flute Concerto in D minor H484.1
Johann Sebastian Bach - Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust BWV170