Bach à 7

Together with his brothers Wieland (viola da gamba, cello) and Barthold (transverse flute), lutenist Konrad Junghänel, and harpsichordists Robert Kohnen and Gustav Leonhardt, the baroque violinist, conductor, and ensemble director Sigiswald Kuijken — born in Dilbeek, Belgium, in 1944 — was among the defining figures in the early years of the Ambraser Schlosskonzerte and the Innsbrucker Festwoche(n) der Alten Musik.

In 1972, Kuijken assembled an ensemble for a recording of Molière and Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme that would perform on original instruments or historically faithful replicas. This marked the birth of La Petite Bande. More than fifty years later, this pioneering ensemble continues to flourish. Alongside Kuijken’s wife, Marleen Thiers, on the viola, his daughters Sara, Marie, and Veronica have also been long-standing members.

At this year’s third Ambras Castle Concert, La Petite Bande returns to the festival for the first time since 1999 with an all-Bach programme, performed by a compact ensemble of seven musicians. In this festive setting, Sigiswald Kuijken will focus exclusively on the violoncello da spalla — an instrument whose revival within the historically informed performance movement he has championed for more than two decades. In works scored for as many as seven parts, the instrument forms the string bass, offering fresh listening perspectives — for instance, in the original version of Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068, featuring the celebrated Air.