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, the solidity and expression of one hymn tune is the foundation of works for solo violin and pipe organ, as well as the Cantata No. 172, performed by Amsterdam Baroque and director Ton Koopman. -
On The Bach Hour, Matthew Halls leads the Retrospect Ensemble in a brilliant expression of the multi-dimensional beauty of the composer's art. -
On The Bach Hour, the composer's Cantata No. 86, led by Ton Koopman, reflects a devotion to the sacred, while an enthusiasm for weekend social gatherings comes to life in the Orchestral Suite No. 1, directed by Richard Egarr. -
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. -
On The Bach Hour, a legendary instrument at Schlosskirche Altenburg - played when it was new by the composer himself - transmits an astonishing range of sonic color in the Passacaglia in C minor and Cantata 146. -
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." -
On The Bach Hour, Masaaki Suzuki leads Bach Collegium Japan in a dramatic post-Easter cantata, and Andrew Manze conducts the composer's Triple Concerto. -
On The Bach Hour, Matthew Halls leads the Retrospect Ensemble in a work that's at once contemplative and exuberant, and Angela Hewitt plays selections from Book II of the Well-Tempered Clavier. -
On The Bach Hour, the enigmatic Canadian pianist dispatches one of Bach's greatest masterpieces in an interpretation for the ages. -
The conductor and organist brings Bach's fascination with Italian music to life in works inspired by Vivaldi and Pergolesi on The Bach Hour.
