Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, written for the Christmas festivities in Leipzig in 1734, is a set of six self-contained but linked cantatas rather than a conventional oratorio. This concert features cantatas 1 and 3, as well as his cantata ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo’ and Telemann’s delightful concerto in E minor for recorder and flute.

This fascinating programme explores music written in England between about 1680, when Henry Purcell was in his prime, and 1720, when Handel was well established in London. It contrasts works by Purcell and his followers William Croft, Raphael Courteville, and John Weldon with music in the Italian style by immigrant composers, including Handel, Giovanni Battista Draghi, Nicola Matteis, J.C. Pepusch and Nicola Haym.

In this programme elaborate and expressive motets for Holy Week by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, François Couperin and Michel de Lalande are contrasted with pieces for harpsichord, theorbo and bass viol by Louis Couperin, Robert de Visée, Johann Jacob Froberger and Marin Marais.

Charles Jennens compiled the vivid text – concerning the plagues of Egypt, the exodus of the Israelites and the Song of Moses – directly from the Bible, and Handel matched it with music of unparalleled splendour: the choir is the main protagonist, often divided into two for dramatic effect, and is accompanied by a large orchestra, including trumpets, timpani, trombones, flutes, oboes, bassoons, strings and two organs.