It is difficult to imagine that anyone would ever consider the music of Johann Sebastian Bach overwrought and exaggerated, but this is indeed how many nineteenth century music critics interpreted his work. They labeled this period’s music “baroque,” stemming from the Portuguese word barroco, or “oddly shaped pearl.” Over time, music critics and audiences alike have come to regard Bach’s work as nothing short of genius, and the word baroque has shed its pejorative connotation to simply become the title for a period in music history.

After hearing Bach perform on the harpsichord in Berlin, the Margrave of Brandenburg commissioned Bach to send him original compositions to play at court. Bach in turn wrote six technically-complex, genre-bending concertos that today bear the name of their recipient, the Brandenburg Concertos. Enjoy an evening of groundbreaking and brilliant—but certainly not overwrought—baroque classics, featuring two of Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos.