The Musical Offering: Worcester Chamber Music Society

Worcester Chamber Music Society, featuring their pianist Randall Hodgkinson, delivers an exquisite rendition of J.S. Bach’s Musical Offering. The ensemble brings their tight-knit artistry to this music written for celebration.

Bach’s Musical Offering is a collection of keyboard works based on thematic material provided to Bach by Frederick the Great. Written as a celebratory work, this piece introduces a six voice fugue played across instruments throughout the work.

This program also features Bach’s Italian Concerto and Toccata in f sharp minor. The latter is one of seven toccatas for keyboard without pedal, and is intricate and expansive. The key of f sharp minor was less commonly used at the time, and was seen as dark, passionate, and moody. In contrast, the Italian Concerto was written as a solo concerto to imitate the grandiose of an ensemble. Bach used elaborate ornamentation, well-designed cadences, and a balance of showiness and rule-following in composition, allowing the Italian Concerto to be seen as the “ideal solo concerto”.