’Tis nature’s voice | Scherzi musicali by Farina, Von Westhoff, Scheidt, Schmelzer, J. H., Biber, De (2023/2023), Director musical Bojan Čičić, West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Expect the unexpected, as Bojan Čičić opens the baroque era’s musical jokebook for an evening of novelties, parodies and flights of fancy by Biber, Schmelzer and their contemporaries. Humanity is part of nature too – and never more so than when we’re transforming the world around us into music. For composers like Biber, Schmelzer, Farina and Scheidt, there was nothing that wasn’t musical: a fencing school, a busy street, a city bell-tower or the chaos and clamour of battle. You’ll hear them all in this flamboyant sonic extravaganza from six baroque masters letting their imaginations run off the leash. Expect bagpipes and bullets, pealing bells and rollicking dance tunes – plus a bunch of violins that think they’re harps. They’re painted from life by Bojan Čičić and Academy of Ancient Music – performers who know that the baroque era was at its best when it had a smile on its face. A free pre-concert talk will take place at 6.30pm in the auditorium on both performance days.