Trevor Pinnock is one of the most famous and distinguished figures in the early music field. For thirty years he directed the English Concert, which pioneered performances of Baroque and Classical music on period instruments, and he now divides his time between conducting, solo harpsichord recitals, chamber music and educational projects.

In this programme Trevor Pinnock plays a selection of some of the greatest music written for the harpsichord by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century German and French composers. He begins with one of the finest suites by the Stuttgart composer Johann Jakob Froberger (1616–1667), which includes a moving lament on the death of the Austrian emperor Ferdinand III, who died in 1657. J. S. Bach’s Partita no. 6 in E minor, written about seventy years later, is one of the most extended examples of the suite form, consisting of a toccata and six dances.

The second half of the concert is devoted to pièces de clavecin by the seventeenth-century French composers Louis Couperin (1626–1661) and Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665–1729) and the two greatest French eighteenth-century composers, François Couperin (1661–1733)—nephew of Louis—and Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764).

We are delighted to be able to welcome Trevor Pinnock back to the Festival after his very successful concert with the European Brandenburg Ensemble. We feel sure that his recital will be very popular; early booking is recommended!