Bach, the Universe and Everything is back with another season of celestial adventures inspired by the music of JS Bach and the amazing cosmic discoveries of the last 350 years.

The scientific Enlightenment revealed that whilst space is unfathomable in its beauty and mystery, it is at the same time an extension of the world we know on Earth. Our speakers this season will explore how that knowledge is shaping our relationship with and understanding of the worlds and galaxies around us. In Bach’s church cantatas, we find one of the most intense explorations of the relationship between the human spirit, in many ways liberated by newfound knowledge, and the necessity of faith in a higher cause.

Alongside Bach’s cantatas we explore the choral works of Orlando Gibbons; often described as the last great English polyphonist, he was one of the most naturally talented composers in setting the English language to music.

‘Wowbagger gazed for a moment at the fantastic jewellery of the night, the billions of tiny diamond worlds that dusted the infinite darkness with light. Every one, every single one, was on his itinerary. Most of them he would be going to millions of times over.

He imagined for a moment his itinerary connecting up all the dots in the sky like a child’s numbered dots puzzle. He hoped that from some vantage point in the Universe it might be seen to spell a very very rude word.’

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