Secret Bach by Moonlight

Behind the legendary name of J.S. Bach lies the story of a rebellious young genius.

Orphaned as a child and sent to live with his older brother, the young Sebastian was forbidden from studying his brother’s prized collection of works by the great keyboard masters. Undeterred, he spent months secretly copying the book by hand – working only by moonlight to avoid discovery.

In this late-night recital, acclaimed organist Richard Moore (Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford) explores that same world of North German keyboard music – the tradition that shaped the mind of the composer Bach would become. Featuring the music he was never meant to hear – by Buxtehude, Reincken, and Kuhnau – the programme culminates in Bach’s own monumental Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor.