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
To hear Ryan Turner conduct Bach's Mass in B minor on Saturday, May 3rd, 2025, visit Emmanuel Music.
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On The Bach Hour, the Iranian-born pianist performs Bach's Keyboard Concerto No. 3, and Masaaki Suzuki conducts the Cantata No. 69a. -
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, the Dutch cellist talks with host Brian McCreath about the composer's suites for solo cello, and Ton Koopman leads Amsterdam Baroque in the Cantata No. 140, "Wachet auf." -
On The Bach Hour, Rudolf Lutz conducts the composer's Cantata 168, in which fearsome metaphors from the natural world are answered by allusions to eternity. -
On The Bach Hour, the renowned cellist places the composer's music at the center of a world-wide effort to build local communities and confront their unique challenges. -
On The Bach Hour, the Prague-based harpsichordist reveals the astonishing creative force embedded in Bach's Toccatas, and Ton Koopman directs the Cantata 187. -
On The Bach Hour, the renowned harpsichordist and conductor draws on decades of interpretive experience to conduct Bach's Partita No. 5, re-imagined for chamber orchestra. -
On The Bach Hour, an artist of uncommon insight interprets - and talks about - one of Bach's most imposing compositions, and Martin Pearlman leads Boston Baroque in Magnificat. -
On The Bach Hour, the Chopin Competition winner reveals passion, drama, and crystalline spark in a solo piano work, and Rudolf Lutz conducts a work infused with hope and joy, Cantata No. 30. -
On The Bach Hour, Shaham's decades of experience - both musical and otherwise - inform a rich interpretation of Bach's solo violin works, illuminated through both performance and conversation.
