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, 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, soprano Malin Hartelius and trumpeter Niklas Eklund are the soloists in a work marked by virtuosity, deep soulfulness, and ravishing exuberance. -
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 Boston-based violist brings her penetrating insights to the composer's Cello Suites, describing their emotional power in a conversation with host Brian McCreath. -
On The Bach Hour, a simple tune is continually transformed, creating the foundations of multiple themes in the composer's Cantata No. 93, conducted by Ton Koopman. -
On The Bach Hour, Ton Koopman leads Amsterdam Baroque in music that expresses the timeless theme of forgiveness of one's enemies as a route to contentment. -
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, Philippe Pierlot leads Collegium Vocale Gent and the Ricercar Consort in music that begins in the wonder of the cosmos and ends in quiet, individual commitment. -
On The Bach Hour, one of Boston's cornerstone ensembles performs music that starts in weakness and frailty and becomes a vigorous picture of strength. -
On The Bach Hour, Masaaki Suzuki conducts a joyfully expressive cantata written for the dedication of a pipe organ in a small German village, and William Porter performs on that very instrument.
