Bach 1725

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, directed by John Butt and the Choir of New College Oxford

Book Tickets

Wednesday 7 May

Concert

Opening Times

Manuscript viewing: 6.15 – 7.15pm
Pre-concert talk: 6.30pm (30 minutes)
Concert: 7.30pm (approx. 75 minutes)

Venue

Sheldonian Theatre, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3AZ

Tickets

£40, £32, £25, £15.

£10 Students & Under 25’s

Manuscript viewing and pre-concert talk are free to all concert ticket holders.

Ticket sales will close 3 hours before the event. There may be a limited number of tickets available on the door on a first come, first served basis

Performances

Manuscript viewing: 6.15 – 7.15pm
Pre-concert talk: 6.30pm (30 minutes)
Concert: 7.30pm

A unique event marking 300 years since the composition and first performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s 1725 Ascension Day Cantata Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein. This momentous occasion also marks the arrival of the autograph manuscript of the cantata, bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, one of only four of the composer’s manuscripts in the UK.  

This festive and colourful cantata for orchestra, chorus, and soloists was written for first performance on Ascension Day in May 2025.   Three hundred years later, it is the centre-piece of a celebratory concert exploring Bach’s compositions from this post-Easter period in 1725, together with a pair of new works composed in response to Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein.

World-leading Bach scholar and performer John Butt directs the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Choir of New College Oxford, whose director Robert Quinney has used his extensive knowledge of the manuscript to prepare the choir for this performance.

The manuscript, a tangible link to the past, will be on display in the Weston Library, Bodleian Libraries.

Plan your visit

Address

Sheldonian Theatre, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3AZ

Core Visitor Information

The Sheldonian Theatre is located in Oxford city centre on Broad Street, OX1 3AZ. It is approximately a 10-minute walk from Gloucester Green bus station and a 15-minute walk from Oxford railway station