We return to Weimar in December 1715 where, praise be, music was allowed during advent unlike Leipzig.

The sentiments expressed in the soprano’s opening aria – “Prepare the paths… Messiah approaches!”- will be quite familiar to British audiences in the Christmas period as it draws from the same biblical passage as the opening numbers of Handel’s Messiah. Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn! is a beautifully reflective piece designed to ready the faithful for the seasonal celebrations.

Over the last three years the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest launched into space, has allowed astronomers to peer back to a time shortly after the Big Bang. One surprise discovery has been the number of large and mature galaxies observed in the early Universe that can’t be explained by current models of galaxy formation. Dhara Patel from the National Space Centre will put forward some alternative ideas that could help explain the presence of galaxies that should not exist!

The season’s focus on the music of the Flemish composer Jacobus Clemens (c. 1510 – 1556) continues with a setting of the well-known prayer to the mother of Jesus, Ave Maria.