With TEC preparing Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos for performances in Alicante and London later on in February, our monthly archive pick also turns to the renowned masterpiece.
“I remember having a new Walkman. I remember where I was standing, listening to Trevor leading this orchestra from the harpsichord; this incredible ensemble of extraordinary musicians. It sounds like such a cliche, but it was like a breath of fresh air. At that age, I couldn’t have analysed what was happening, but I felt something. Goose pimples from the first second I heard it. I was so intrigued.
I didn’t even know what baroque music was, or what the instruments were. I don’t think I’d ever heard a live harpsichord. But it was something about these musicians taking this material and bringing it to life, that was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard in my life and still is to this day.
Until then it was very much the tradition to play in quite a plummy, romantic style. And then there was this incredible group of musicians, Trevor being one of them, who said that actually, this isn’t what Bach meant,
They were really the vanguard. I see him as quite a maverick, that he thought, ‘well, I’m not just going to do what’s expected, I’m hungry to find out what this might sound like.’ That was over 50 years ago now, and it’s changed the whole landscape of early music.“
