Classical 99.5 | Classical Radio Boston
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
The Bach Hour
Sundays 6-7am, Mondays midnight-2am

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

Latest Episodes
  • 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.
  • The conductor and organist brings Bach's fascination with Italian music to life in works inspired by Vivaldi and Pergolesi on The Bach Hour.
  • 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."
  • 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.
  • On The Bach Hour, the Los Angeles-based violinist performs both parts - each on a different Stradivarius instrument - of one of the composer’s most dramatic concertos.
  • On The Bach Hour, pianist Simone Dinnerstein describes her childhood entry into the composer's music through his Two-Part Inventions, and why they remain continually fascinating.
  • On The Bach Hour, the Academy for Ancient Music Berlin brings vibrant textures and colors to the composer's ultimate musical statement in counterpoint, and John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Cantata No. 181, confronting "light-minded, frivolous spirits."
  • On The Bach Hour, when a king throws a vexing musical challenge at the composer, it sparks a dazzling response in "The Musical Offering," and an equally dazzling interpretation by Jordi Savall and The Concert of Nations.
  • In his Cantata No. 156, the composer infuses a particular sequence with the meaning of words of devotion to create a sonic symbol, part of a performance directed by Masaaki Suzuki on The Bach Hour.
  • On The Bach Hour, Murray Perahia is the soloist in the composer's Concerto in D, and Ton Koopman leads a cantata inspired by the transformation of water into wine.