The virtually limitless well of music by J.S. Bach has always had a prominent place on radio airwaves in Boston. Whether it’s an iconic work like the Toccata and Fugue in D minor or a rarely heard but emotionally riveting church cantata, Bach’s music is a touchstone, returning listeners to a foundation on which so much subsequent music has been built.
Hear The Bach Hour each Sunday at 6am on 99.5 WCRB, as well as Mondays, midnight-2am. And listen on demand for two weeks after broadcast.
Resources consulted for production of The Bach Hour include many sites, books, and other media, but in particular, the following:
- program booklets of featured recordings, including those written by John Eliot Gardiner
- Emmanuel Music and Pamela Dellal
- The Cantatas of J.S. Bach, by Alfred Dürr
- Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician and Bach's Musical Universe, by Christoph Wolff
- Bach Cantatas Website
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On The Bach Hour, Matthew Halls leads the Retrospect Ensemble in a brilliant expression of the multi-dimensional beauty of the composer's art.
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On The Bach Hour, John Eliot Gardiner leads the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists in the composer's musical confrontation with the capriciousness of life.
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On The Bach Hour, the composer's "Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen" charts a course from dark sorrow to resolute peace in a performance by Collegium Vocale of Ghent and their director, Philippe Herreweghe.
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On The Bach Hour, Alina Ibragimova is the soloist in Bach's Violin Concerto in D minor, and Christophe Coin leads the Cantata No. 85, "I Am the Good Shepherd."
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On The Bach Hour, David Fray is the pianist in music that grew not only from the composer's invention and craft, but also from his close relationship with his wife.
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On The Bach Hour, Ton Koopman leads Amsterdam Baroque in music that reflects the complexity of belief through one of the composer's most brilliant works, written for Easter.
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The Academy for Ancient Music Berlin illuminates a magical fusion of works by two iconic composers, and John Eliot Gardiner conducts the "Actus Tragicus" on The Bach Hour.
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The conductor and organist brings Bach's fascination with Italian music to life in works inspired by Vivaldi and Pergolesi on The Bach Hour.
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On The Bach Hour, Canadian Brass applies their burnished brilliance to the composer's "Goldberg Variations," and John Eliot Gardiner leads the Monteverdi Choir in "Jesu, Meine Freude."
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On The Bach Hour, violinist Lara St. John and harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet bring uncommon warmth, color, and resonance to the composer's Violin Sonata No. 1.