Victims of their own success in the postwar era of well-recorded sound, the Brandenburg Concertos first arrived in the ears of listeners from my generation via glossy, plush and polished recordings by heavyweight orchestras of a sort that would have baffled Bach. Four decades ago, period-conscious bands began to strip the gloopy varnish off and let the strange, bold paintwork beneath shine. 

Yet the look, and sound, of these six pieces “for several instruments”, rather obsequiously dedicated by the job-seeking Bach to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, can still startle audiences. Last night, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment launched the first concerto with the raucous, rustic triplet tooting of the pair of hunting horns brandished in our faces (in every sense) by Ursula Paludan Monberg and Martin Lawrence. With these gloriously disruptive, muddy-booted outdoor sounds, the OAE – who have these pieces lodged deeply in their musical DNA – kicked off a performance of the Brandenburgs whose dash, zest and unfussy collegiate virtuosity reminded us why that revolution in “historically informed” practice happened, and why it still pays handsome dividends.