Behind the scenes of the Secret Garden Café Concerts // TRAIN BRAIN

Behind the scenes of the Secret Garden Café Concerts

Come to our next Secret Garden Café Concert! Saturday 30 May 2026: https://oae.co.uk/event/the-secret-garden-cafe-concerts-sound-and-sentiment/
Inspired by the coffee-house culture that Johann Sebastian Bach enjoyed in 18th-century Leipzig, The Secret Garden Café Concerts are a new series of relaxed, intimate performances. Each concert is curated by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s principal players, uncovering rarely heard musical curiosities and forgotten gems that seldom appear on the modern concert stage.
For these events, the Assembly Hall at our home in Acland Burghley School will be transformed into a welcoming café setting. Your ticket includes a generous slice of cake and bottomless tea, coffee or soft drinks.
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Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Ok, it’s a not very snappy name, so we tend to call ourselves the OAE. The OAE is probably one of the top ‘period instrument’ Orchestras in the world. What does this mean? Well, over the years instruments and techniques have changed. We try to be authenti...

The rarely seen Lirone - 'heaven's hoover'

Why Berlioz Wanted Sea Sponges on the Timpani

Timothy Ridout on his 450-Year-Old Viola's return to Gut Strings

"Painful and miserable" - Berlioz's Bassoon

Introducing the E Flat Clarinet

"One of the glories of Western music" | Off the Shelf pick: Steven Devine, principal keyboard

Why Berlioz should be played on period instruments

"Every single note has to be a beautiful gem" | Off The Shelf Classical Picks

Behind the scenes of the Secret Garden Café Concerts

Did Haydn got to the cinema?!

"It's like a love story from beginning to end." | Off the Shelf Pick

"Playing this piece was one of the most exciting moments of my entire career" | Off the Shelf Pick

Introducing Haydn's Oboe

The 20th Century Percussion Instruments we use for Warlock's Capriol Suite.

Esurientes from JS Bach's Magnificat - on period instruments

Purcell's obsession with the god of wine | Composers' Wine Tales

"The choir sound like a car starting up on a cold day" | Off the Shelf Classical picks

Haydn's famous contrabassoon solo

Does playing from the original manuscript change your perception of a piece?

A Period‑Instrument Lark Ascending Like You’ve Never Seen or Heard

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis - if you heard it in Gloucester cathedral

Introducing the Anton Walter Fortepiano

‘Off the Shelf’ Classical Pick: Martin Lawrence (horn)

‘Off the Shelf’ Classical Pick: Maggie Faultless (violin)

Steven Devine introduces BWV 111 Was mein Gott will, das g'sceh allzeit

The story of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto

The instrument Mozart wrote the clarinet concerto for

Who says Haydn isn't box-office gold?

Composer James Redwood talks dream commissions, perfect moments and climbing | Take a Beat S2 E2

Haydn's liquid salary | Composers' Wine Tales

Steven Devine introduces BWV 132 Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn!

The James Webb Space Telescope with Dhara Patel | Bach, the Universe and Everything

Steven Devine introduces BWV 163 Nur jedem das Seine | Bach, the Universe and Everything

Inside flute player Neil McLaren's jewellery workshop

Flute player Neil McLaren takes us back to 1989

How flute player Neil McLaren got into the Baroque flute

Steven Devine introduces BWV 5 Wo soll ich fliehen hin | Bach, the Universe and Everything

Why should you come to see Solomon on 12 October?

Three roles, one soprano - with Nardus Williams

What are the musical highlights in Handel’s Solomon?

Introducing soprano Nardus Williams

Handel's 'trouser role' in Solomon

Flute player Neil McLaren talks castles, music lessons and jewellery making | Take a Beat S2 E1

Why Solomon makes a good season opener with Principal Artist John Butt

First musical memory with flute player Neil McLaren

The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba in 90 seconds

$1,000,000 Guadagnini violin vs $100 violin

A Tribute to Sir Roger Norrington (1934-2025)

How to make a hosepipe horn

Breaking Bach - a meeting between street dancers and Bach

Conductor Natalia Ponomarchuk on the new OAE commissions inspired by Fanny Mendelssohn

TELEMANN: Der Harmonische Gottesdienst for the Second day of Easter

"Baroque music? Oh I've never tried that!" | Breaking Bach

Mendelssohn's Erard Piano - with Olga Pashchenko

Musical Connections: Arts for Impact Campaign

Take a Beat with Freya Waley-Cohen

Playing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto on gut strings with violinist Vilda Frang

The only instrument that Fanny Mendelssohn was allowed to play as a woman in the 1800s.

Take a Beat with Steven Devine

How we transport large instruments - with Bonzo

Can people recognise Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik from just three notes?

Why is Rebecca Clarke’s Sonata for Viola and Piano still so popular?

Take a Beat with Roxanna Panufnik and Olga Pashchenko

Take a Beat with Electra Perivolaris

Lully’s stick-y end

Q&A with Julia Bullock

Affelia Wibisono on X-Ray Planets

Bruckner’s Horns

Bruckner’s trumpets

The Romantic Period Flute used in Irish traditional music

The expanding bore of the Romantic Trombone

What makes the serpent a brass instrument?

Why Timpanists lean down over the drum

Timpani in the Classical Period | The Evolution of the Timpani: Part 3

Introducing the Double Action Harp

Introducing thre Ophicleide

Introducing the Serpent

Introducing the Baroque Clarinet

A rare 16th Century bow

Introducing Mozart’s Triangle