Nearly 200 of Bach’s sacred cantatas survive, all intended for church performance. Bach might have been amazed at the idea of a concert-hall cycle but he would no doubt have approved of such a project being undertaken by students.

Sponsored by the Kohn Foundation, the Royal Academy of Music’s Bach series will last the best part of a decade. One Sunday lunchtime a month, Academy students will join professionals to perform two or three cantatas. With Iain Ledingham directing from the harpsichord, this second leg of the mighty odyssey opened with one of the longest cantatas, O Greatly Longed-for Feast of Joy (BWV194 in the standard Bach catalogue).

Although this 40-minute work was written for the dedication of a church organ, here the chamber organ’s delicate wheezing was subdued rather than grandiloquent.

The orchestra had just 17 players, most standing rather than sitting, which created a wonderful sense of binding intimacy. If the voices occasionally lacked the last degree of finesse, commitment was absolute. In the second work, Behold! We Go up to Jerusalem (BWV159), the solo oboe d’amore’s aching sensuality, woven languidly through the vocal lines, surely provided a glimpse of heaven.
Series continues 29 March. Information: 020 7873 7300.