17:30  talk         A lecture-recital based on J.S. Bach Goldberg Variations BWV 988   Marcus du Sautoy (speaker)

18:15   interval   Supernova exhibition  – Curated by Sarah Kogan  

                           Andrew Ekins/ Vincent Hawkins/ Sarah Kogan/ Mali Morris/ Stephen Nelson

18:45   concert    J.S. Bach Goldberg Variations BWV 988   Charles Owen (piano) 

Bach’s student, Lorenz Christoph Mizler, once described Bach’s music as the process of sounding mathematics. The Goldberg Variations are perhaps one of the most beautiful examples of Bach’s mathematical ideas at work. 

In this talk, mathematician and Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science (University of Oxford) Marcus du Sautoy will explain how ideas of symmetry are at work throughout the variations. Like an audible Alhambra, Bach plays with different symmetrical ideas to create the 30 variations that make up the piece. Pianist Charles Owen has received outstanding critical acclaim for his performances of and insights into JS Bach’s keyboard works. For this special lecture– recital he will bring his signature clarity of articulation and characterisation to the iconic Goldberg Variations.

Supernova is a multimedia exhibition featuring the work of five British contemporary artists working in two and three dimensions. Curated by guest artist Sarah Kogan, the exhibition will be shown at Blyth Gallery, Imperial College London, in November 2021.  

 The title of the exhibition, Supernova, eludes to the moment that a star implodes, shooting materials into the cosmos and creating the raw ingredients of life. This metaphor of material process, resulting in new life being formed, is pertinent to the content of the exhibition: whilst the work of each selected artist explores the importance of materiality in the process of making, there concurrently exist, throughout the exhibition as a whole, subtle manifestations of expressive meaning.  

Tickets go on sale 15th November 2021.