Peter Whelan, conductor

J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no. 1 F-major

Igor Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite

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J.S. Bach: Sinfonia from Cantata 174

Heinrich Biber: Battalia à 10

J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 F-major

Peter Whelan initially rose to prominence playing period bassoon with a variety of Baroque ensembles. He is just the man to conduct Bach’s first and most extensive Brandenburg Concerto, where wind instruments play a prominent part. In no. 2, all the solo instruments are treble instruments – trumpet, flute, oboe and violin. Bach recycled elements from Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in the overture to his Cantata no. 174. Biber’s celebrated battle scene, Battalia, represents an earlier stratum of German Baroque. It presents war as a sad affair that is not without comical aspects. In the 17th century, armies from multiple countries marched hither and yon across central Europe, and in Battalia we never find out who are fighting and why. Stravinsky’s Pulcinella is a rediscovery of the past, a reimagining of 18th-century music that the composer found in a library in Naples and infused with the fervour of the 1920s.

The concert is part of Tapiola Sinfonietta's Bach Festival.

Season ticket series: Platinum, silver

Tapiola Sinfonietta 2024-2025

Tapiola Sinfonietta: WHELAN (Bach festival)

The event “Tapiola Sinfonietta: WHELAN (Bach festival)” has ended