An exciting blaze of trumpets and drums announced the London debut of the Oxford Bach Soloists (OBS) and immediately raised the question: why is this thrilling ensemble not more widely known? In its quest to perform all of JS Bach’s vocal music over 12 years it has already presented 129 of the 200-plus sacred and secular cantatas. That’s 93 hours of live music, yet few enthusiasts outside Oxford know of its existence. That’s surely about to change.
Nine years remain for OBS to complete the vast canon, mounting a cycle of performances in chronological order, with performers, instruments and venues that echo the university and churches of Bach’s Leipzig. It’s the brainchild of the ambitious and energetic conductor Tom Hammond-Davies. Scholars contend that Bach didn’t write for a choir in a conventional sense, but for an ensemble of soloists who would join together to sing the choral passages. Every year, Hammond-Davies selects for scholarships 10 young singers who generally step out of the choir to sing the solos. But for the larger works, such as this performance of parts one, three and six of the Christmas Oratorio, he brings in some big names to swell the chorus and sing the arias.
