What does it mean to innovate within a defined form? In what sense is it important to be true to the vision of the composer—when can we straddle the shoulders of artistic giants and go somewhere new, when does that end up some kind of insensitive appropriation? And what is our cultural responsibility to restore a musical lineage severed by genocide?

Musicians must keep asking themselves these questions, says Elina Ahlbach. Her view is that if Bach had known the e-guitar, he would have used it. Elina is better-placed than most to assert such a thing: she is the founder and artistic director of the chamber music group Continuum, an internationally recognised harpsichordist and Glenn Gould Bach Fellow.

There is something both very soulful and unflinchingly clear about Elina’s music, and in her leadership style as she conducts her ensemble from her instrument. I’ve been meaning to get into some of these questions with her for a while, but being family is not always conducive to that kind of conversation. The pod has been an effective, if somewhat baroque excuse for that.

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