Gerhard Weinberger

detail of an array of silver pipes on a pipe organ

Turmoil, Serenity, and Joy in the Sounds of Bach's Pipe Organ

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.

Hildebrandt pipe organ at St. Wenceslas Church, Naumburg, Germany

The Bach Hour

Bach's Advent Masterpiece, on a Legendary Pipe Organ

On The Bach Hour, Gerhard Weinberger performs the composer's Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch" on an instrument Bach himself tested when it was new.

view of the sky at sunset after a storm, with large clouds lit from behind

The Bach Hour

Bach's Word of Thunder and Bliss of Heaven

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.

Episodes

A Rich Tapestry in Bach's Art of the Fugue

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."

Episodes

The Anticipation of Advent in the Cantata 36

On the program:Chorale preludes: Herr Christ, der einge Gottes-Sohn (Lord Christ, only Son of God), BWV 601, and Lob sei dem allmächtigen (Praise Be to…