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
-
On The Bach Hour, John Eliot Gardiner leads the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists in the composer's Cantata 182, and Pieter Wispelwey performs the Suite No. 5 for solo cello. -
On The Bach Hour, the enigmatic Canadian pianist dispatches one of Bach's greatest masterpieces in an interpretation for the ages.
-
On The Bach Hour, one of the composer's frothier musical creations tells the story of a father, his daughter, and a hot caffeinated beverage that causes a minor rift in family relations.
-
On The Bach Hour, the harpsichordist and conductor reveals his process of assembling fragmentary clues to form an approach to some of Bach's most vibrant music.
-
On The Bach Hour, transcriptions by three different composers come together in one piece for piano, and Ton Koopman conducts the composer's Cantata 97.
-
On The Bach Hour, Bach Collegium Japan performs the composer's "Trauerode," written to mourn the passing of a royal princess who embodied the values and hopes of her time.
-
On The Bach Hour, the Principal Oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic explores the expressive terrain of the composer's cantatas, transformed into a concerto.
-
On The Bach Hour, John Eliot Gardiner conducts an artistically riveting work with roots in the cultural fears and biases of the composer's time and place.
-
On The Bach Hour, Helmut Rilling conducts the composer's Cantata No. 84 and selections from the Mass in B minor, and guitarist Jason Vieaux and German Brass each offer distinctive interpretations in two of Bach's instrumental works.
-
On The Bach Hour, Olivier Latry talks about the devastating 2019 fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, where he's been an organist since 1985, and performs Bach's music in one of the last recordings made before the fire.
