J.S. Bach's partitas BWV 825-830, the first of which is the composer's self-proclaimed Opus 1, form part of his Clavier-Übung I that was published in 1731. There is a substantial body of evidence that suggest that these works were rather popular when first published, something that we believe remains true today. These six works for keyboard exist as part Bach’s hefty compositional corpus, and are all functional, bespoke, and beautiful.

Join the Oxford Bach Soloists for a series of six concerts, with these exquisite compositions acting as their golden thread.

J.S. Bach Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt, BWV 18;
J.S. Bach Partita in A minor, BWV 827;
Schütz Es ging ein Sämann aus zu säen, SWV 408;
Buxtehude Erhalt uns Herr bei deinem Wort, BuxWV 27;
J.S. Bach Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, BWV 126

Dónal McCann, harpsichord