THE Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment continues its look at turning points in the history of classical music with its concert at The Anvil this month.

The programme on Friday, March 21 at 7.45pm, features two of Bach's masterpieces, his Double Violin Concerto and Brandenburg Concertos Nos 3 and 6.

However, the real gamechanger on the programme is the rare concerto for the now 'extinct' violoncello da spalla, a piece which lay forgotten until as recently as 2004.

This fascinating instrument was an extraordinary forerunner of the cello, played rather like a giant violin but held against the shoulder with a strap around the player’s neck.

Many composers wrote pieces specifically for it, and it was routinely used in ensemble playing. Sigiswald Kuijken has been at the forefront of its revival and leads this concert of both well-known and rare Baroque works, with the spalla involved throughout.

Kuijken’s rediscovery and revival of the instrument has challenged the existing consensus about some core Baroque repertoire thought to have been written for the cello. 

He is convinced that the lower three parts of Bach’s 3rd Brandenburg Concerto were in fact written for the much lighter tones of the spalla, showing how historical performance continues to innovate and change the soundscape. 

Tickets: £21, concessions available

Box office: 01256 844244, anvilarts.org.uk