The Bach Hour

Sundays 6-7am, Mondays midnight-2am

Hosted by Brian McCreath

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.

Suzuki and Bach's Musical Portrait of a Cultural Icon

On The Bach Hour, Masaaki Suzuki conducts the Cantata No. 198, written to commemorate Christiane Eberhardine, whose life embodied the values of the composer's community.

Bach's Visions of Joy, through Rilling's Prism

Helmuth Rilling brings the wisdom of decades to the Cantata No. 84 and the Mass in B minor - and their seemingly limitless ways to express happiness - on The Bach Hour.

Genius Out of Intolerance in Bach's Cantata 126

On The Bach Hour, cultural prejudices that are now rejected nevertheless lay the groundwork for electrifying music in a performance led by John Eliot Gardiner.

Latry Plays Bach at Notre Dame

In 2019 a distastrous fire almost destroyed the organ at Paris's landmark cathedral. On The Bach Hour, Notre Dame organist Olivier Latry shares his thoughts about - and affection for - the instrument there, on which he recorded Bach's music.

Salonen Conducts Schoenberg's Vision of Bach

Esa-Pekka Salonen — Minna Hatinen / Finnish National Opera

The Finnish conductor leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the "St. Anne" Prelude and Fugue, and Masaaki Suzuki conducts the Cantata No. 73 on The Bach Hour.