For our pre-Christmas edition of Bach, the Universe and Everything, we are joined by Helen Arney – science communicator, comedian, songwriter and 33.33% of The Festival of the Spoken Nerd.

At a time of year when our thoughts might turn to heroic journeys made by an animal, Helen Arney guides us through a short history of animals who have headed starwards in the service of space exploration.

Composed for the First Sunday of Advent in 1731, Schwingt freudig euch empor zu den erhabnen Sternen (Soar joyfully upwards to the exalted stars, BWV 36) is an extended two-part cantata in which we find Bach at his most jubilant.