In search of Bach is back in 2026! A musical epic, on foot and by bike, following in the footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach, conceived as a unique production of digital, audio and visual content!
In 1705, Johann Sebastian Bach was twenty years old. A young chapel master from a modest background, he wanted to perfect his musical education. Unable to make the grand journey to Italy he dreams of, he decides to leave his hometown of Arnstadt in central Germany and travel to Lübeck on the North Sea coast to meet the great composer Dietrich Buxtehude, the undisputed master of his time. Thus begins a journey on foot of more than 400 kilometres along the ‘salt road’, an ancient Roman road. For his twentieth birthday, Pygmalion embarks on a musical journey, the first stage of which takes him to meet the audience in Thuringia. The ensemble sets off in the footsteps of the composer, to the sources of his music, on foot and by bicycle.
Conceived as an original production of digital, audio and visual content, in partnership with Arte and France Musique, Pygmalion’s journey along Bach’s paths is a declaration of love for music and one of its greatest geniuses. For Pygmalion, it is also an opportunity to examine the evolution of musical practices and the relationship between the profession of musician and environmental and societal issues.
2026 Programme
21 May – Wolffenbüttel – Hauptkirche · Klangkosmos
22 May – 🥾 Walking day
23 May – Lüneburg, Konzertscheune · Bach – Stravinsky with Reflektor Ensemble.
24 May – Lüneburg, Michaeliskirche · Klangkosmos
25 May – 🥾 Lüneburg, Kloster Lüne · walk and concert 1685, the birth of 3 geniuses
27 May – 🥾 Walking day and crossing Lake Ratzeburg by boat
29 May – Lübeck, Jacobikirche · Membra Jesu Nostri
30 May – Lübeck, Marienkirche · Mass in b
With: Lucile Richardot, Maïlys de Villoutreys, Ana Vieira Leite, Eva Zaïcik, Perrine Devillers, Zachary Wilder, Christian Immler, Louis Creac’h, Julien Léonard, Lucile Boulanger, Thomas de Pierrefeu, Anneke Scott, Jasu Moisio, Thibaut Roussel, Ronan Khalil, Pierre Gallon, Angélique Mauillon, Koen Plaetinck…
Discover the 2026 edition!
For the final episode of Chemins de Bach, Pygmalion finds itself in Wolfenbüttel, the town where Michael Praetorius and Heinrich Schütz served as chapel masters. This city in Lower Saxony housed the libraries that enabled the young Bach to discover the literature of the great Italian, French and English masters: music, dance, tragedy, etc. After a concert comparing the polychoral literature of Praetorius with that of the great Italian masters of the genre, Monteverdi, Gabrieli, Cavalli, Rigatti and Klangkosmos, the troupe will travel, partly on foot, to the university town of Lüneburg, a stone’s throw from Hamburg. J.S. Bach himself lived there between 1700 and 1702. As a teenager, he enrolled at the Michaelisschule and discovered numerous manuscripts by Monteverdi, Carissimi, Schein and Schütz. In Lüneburg, concerts and happenings will allow audiences to immerse themselves in an exceptional heritage for a weekend, notably at St Michael’s Church and Kloster Lüne, a Lutheran convent founded in the 12th century. This mini-festival has been conceived in partnership with a collective of young German musicians, the Reflektor ensemble. Pygmalion will undertake a final journey to the city of Lübeck, on the Baltic coast, the destination of J.S. Bach’s journey in 1705, arriving in the city after crossing Lake Ratzeburg by boat. Dietrich Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu nostri will resound in the Sankt Jacobi church, while the adventure will end with J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor, BWV 232, at the Marienkirche.
The end of this journey will coincide with the ensemble’s 20th anniversary!
The 2024 edition
The first edition of Chemins de Bach, in 2024, organised in partnership with the Thuringia Bach Festival, can be discovered on France Musique and Arte. On the radio, Corinne Schneider accompanied the cheerful troupe and produced three original formats: the live diary broadcast on Musique Matin (Jean-Baptiste Urbain) in May 2024, 43 five-minute episodes broadcast during the programme Le Bach du dimanche, and the saga ‘Raphaël Pichon. Aux sources de Bach’ (7 episodes of 60 minutes). On Arte, three concert recordings and a 43-minute film are available online! This is an exceptional opportunity to listen to the concerts performed on site while discovering the places visited and the musicians who compose Pygmalion.
‘It is as splendid to watch as it is to listen to. Nothing escapes us in Raphaël Pichon’s feverish, inspired conducting, nor in the emotions that pass over the faces of Sabine Devieilhe, Lucile Richardot, Laurence Kilsby and Christian Immler – to name but four of the wonderful singers who, like the others, alternate between finely crafted solos and warm choral fusion.’ (Télérama, Sophie Bourdais, 2025)
‘A thrilling musical and radio saga’ (Le Figaro, Bruno Guermonprez, 2025)
‘Nearly 100 kilometres on foot and by bicycle, four intimate concerts in exceptional churches, picnics and public rehearsals await the ensemble of around fifty artists over the coming days.’ (Freies Wort, Berit Richter, 2024)
