Dunedin Consort plays Bach
The undisputed masters of Bach interpretation return to the Festival under the baton of their revered musical director John Butt.
Winner of the 2021 Royal Philharmonic Society Ensemble Award, the Edinburgh-based Dunedin Consort is one of today’s most arresting Baroque ensembles. The group and its music director, the conductor and scholar John Butt, are long-standing Festival performers.
The consort has won especial acclaim for its recordings of works by JS Bach, on whom Butt is an expert. Releases in its Bach Masterworks series have been described as ‘absolutely essential’ (The Herald) and ‘uplifting’ (The Guardian).
This Festival performance of Bach’s complete Orchestral Suites follows the ensemble’s acclaimed 2022 recording. The Suites are inspired by a wide range of European dances and contain some of Bach’s most elegant and energetic music. Among the highlights are Suite No 1’s rustic ‘Forlane’, Suite No 2’s witty ‘Badinerie’, Suite No 3’s lyrical ‘Air’ and Suite No 4’s exuberant finale ‘Réjouissance’ – rejoicing.
This concert will be featured on BBC Radio 3 on 16 August.
There are few more persuasive Bachians than Butt, who always reconsiders everything afresh
Dunedin Consort
John Butt Director/Harpsichord
Bach
Orchestral Suite No 3 in D
Orchestral Suite No 1 in C
Orchestral Suite No 2 in B
Orchestral Suite No 4 in D