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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In a conversation with host Brian McCreath on The Bach Hour, Hahn describes the endless creative possibilities in the composer's music for solo violin and plays the Sonata No. 2. -
On The Bach Hour, harmonic solidity and quicksilver brilliance come together in the hands of the German violinist, and Sigiswald Kuijken directs the Cantata No. 180, revealing a pathway from darkness to light. -
On The Bach Hour, Yoav Talmi leads the Quebec Symphony Orchestra in Walton's imaginative vision for a ballet based on Bach's music, and Thomas Quasthoff sings the heart-wrenching Cantata No. 56. -
On The Bach Hour, the Argentine mezzo-soprano is the soloist in music that opens a window to the composer's craft and life, with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. -
On The Bach Hour, John Eliot Gardiner leads the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists in music that grapples with the challenges of everyday life, and Pieter-Jan Belder leads the exuberant Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. -
On The Bach Hour, the Principal Flutist of the Berlin Philharmonic is joined by his colleagues for one of Bach’s most virtuosic creations for his instrument. -
On The Bach Hour, the composer's Cantata No. 19, for St. Michael and All Angels, expresses a terrifying, visceral quality of battle, and a hope for protection and safety. -
On The Bach Hour, a prosaic name obscures the brilliance and emotional impact of the composer’s music, performed by one of today’s most thoughtful and dynamic pianists. -
On The Bach Hour, the late, legendary pianist brings years of personal and artistic insight to an arrangement of one of Bach's most emotionally challenging works. -
On The Bach Hour, the Iranian-born pianist performs Bach's Keyboard Concerto No. 3, and Masaaki Suzuki conducts the Cantata No. 69a.
