Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Focusing on how Bach began to retreat from his church duties to focus on his own projects.

Donald Macleod concentrates a period of Bach's compositional introspection.

Exploring Bach's response to criticism of his work by musician and critic Adolf Scheibe.

Donald Macleod on the music arising from Bach's visit to Frederick the Great in 1747.

Donald Macleod explores the music associated with the very end of Bach's life.

Donald Macleod on Bach's move to Leipzig, where he set about transforming musical life.

Donald Macleod on Bach's last years, when his focus turned to his posthumous reputation.

In April 1723, after a great deal of political wrangling between rival factions on the Leipzig town council, Bach was appointed Cantor of the celebrated Thomasschule. At last he had the opportunity to realize a vision he had had, 15 years and several jobs earlier, in his post as organist of St Blasius's Church in Mühlhausen. That vision - his 'ultimate goal', he called it - was the creation of 'a regulated church music'. In practice, this simple-sounding aspiration entailed the Herculean labour of producing - not to mention preparing for performance - a cantata for every single Sunday and feast-day of the church year. Almost incredibly, he kept this up, with minimal reliance on previously composed material, for the first three years of his tenure at Leipzig - a period during which he was, in short, a one-man cantata factory. Today, Donald Macleod focuses on the first of those annual cantata cycles. The emotional range is huge, from the festive cheer of Cantata 40: 'Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes' to the thrilling, borderline-operatic drama of Cantata 81: 'Jesus schl䀀ft, was sol ich hoffen?'.

Donald Macleod focuses on the first of Bach's annual Leipzig cantata cycles.

The passion oratorio came late to Leipzig, where Bach was Cantor at the famous Thomasschule and 'Director Musices Lipsiensis' - making him, effectively, top dog in the musical life of the city. Leipzig was a conservative place, and its city elders regarded with suspicion the elaborate new Passion settings that had recently become fashionable in such progressive centres of culture as Hamburg. It was not until 1721 that Bach's predecessor, Johann Kuhnau, was finally allowed by the church authorities to present in Leipzig a Passion 'in concerted style' - that is, with a mixture of chorales, choruses, recitatives, instrumental pieces and 'madrigal-style' solo vocal numbers. Kuhnau's Passion was based on the story as related in St Mark's Gospel. Three years later, Bach followed suit with his passion setting based on the account of St John. Bach's St John Passion was the jewel in the crown of his first year at Leipzig, written with the experience of some 60 church cantatas immediately behind him. It was his largest-scale work to date, and of huge personal significance. Yet it was also clearly a problematic work for him; in the 25 years following its first performance in April 1724, Bach would revisit it four times, making substantial revisions along the way. It was, in a sense, left incomplete at his death.

Donald Macleod explores Bach's first known passion oratorio, the St John Passion.

Bach may have started work on the St Matthew Passion as early as 1725, perhaps intending it for performance on Good Friday of that year, but it took him at least another two years to complete - hardly surprising, given its scale and the complexity of its organization. His librettist was Picander - literary alter ego of Christian Friedrich Henrici, a tax collector and, somewhat incongruously, erstwhile writer of bawdy verse. Between them, the two men created a work with an astonishingly contemporary feel, from the fragmentary nature of its design to its continual shifting of timeframe and perspective. Bach clearly regarded the St Matthew as one of his greatest achievements, as is attested by the beautiful fair copy - described by conductor John Eliot Gardiner as 'a calligraphic miracle' - that he prepared for its third performance in 1736. After Bach's death the St Matthew Passion, like most of the composer's vocal music, fell into obscurity, but it was revived by the young Felix Mendelssohn in 1829 and has been continuously in the repertoire ever since. It's now regarded as one of the cornerstones of the Western musical tradition.

Donald Macleod explores what came to be known as Bach's 'Great Passion': the St Matthew.

By the mid 1730s, Bach's production of new vocal music had begun to dip. So when in 1734 he came to assemble his Christmas Oratorio - a cycle of six cantatas designed to be performed across six different church feast-days - he drew heavily on music he had composed earlier, for use in other, largely secular, contexts. Why he chose to do this, rather than create new works from scratch, is a matter of speculation. By this time he had been in his job as Cantor of the Thomasschule in Leipzig for more than a decade, a period during which his relations with his employers had turned from mildly tart to distinctly sour, and it may simply be that he had lost interest in providing them with new music. For some years he had also had a fresh focus for his energies, in the form of Leipzig's vibrant Collegium Musicum, a largely student concert society of which he became director in 1729. None of this, though, is to denigrate the Christmas Oratorio, a magnificent work that far from betraying signs of its patchwork origins seems cut from a single cloth. The same goes for the Easter and Ascension Oratorios, which both have their roots in earlier work. In Bach's day, there was no shame in recycling old material - what mattered was the skill with which it was adapted to the new context.

Donald Macleod focuses on Bach's trinity of oratorios: for Christmas, Easter and Ascension

In a sense, Bach didn't write a Mass in B Minor. Firstly, that's not a title he ever gave it; it was attached in 1845 by a publisher called Hermann N䀀geli, probably in an attempt to hike up sales by evoking an association with Beethoven's - similarly epically-proportioned - Missa Solemnis. Secondly, there's no real evidence that Bach regarded it as a single work - or at least, not as a work to be performed at a single sitting. And thirdly, its central key is D major rather than B minor. There's not much clarity as to why he wrote it, either. Theories range from artistic 'summa' - a drawing-together, as he neared the end of life, of everything he had achieved in the field of vocal and instrumental composition - to job-pitch; he had long been frustrated with his position as Cantor as Leipzig's Thomasschule and may now, in 1748, have had his eyes on a court position at Dresden. Bach scholars have been able to throw a great deal more light on how the work was put together - 'put together' being the operative term. The story really begins in 1733, when Bach wrote a Kyrie-Gloria mass - just the first two sections of the so-called 'ordinary' of the mass - for the Elector of Saxony, Augustus the Strong. A decade and a half further on, he decided, for reasons unknown, to expand that abbreviated setting into a missa tota - a setting of the complete ordinary of the mass, pieced together from a variety of sources dating as far back as 1714. The astonishing thing is that this musical collage not only hangs together but delivers one of the most powerful experiences in Western classical music. The key is in the way Bach selects music appropriate to its new context, then adapts it to make a perfect fit for the words. As Bach scholar and performer John Butt observes, 'perhaps part of the enduring quality of the B Minor Mass lies in the fact that so much of its music was essentially composed twice'.

Donald Macleod focuses on Bach's B Minor Mass.

In this first portrait, the boy Bach can be pictured studying at Luther's old school and becoming orphaned at the age of nine and going to live with an older brother, from whom he had to conceal his love of composition by copying out music by moonlight. The 15-year-old Bach sets off, accompanied by his school-friend, walking the 180 miles to a boarding school in Lüneburg to continue his studies. His first job is as organist at Arnstadt where he famously gets into a brawl with a bassoonist and goes AWOL for three months from his post to go and hear Buxtehude perform in Lübeck. Bach causes a scandal by allowing a 'strange young woman' to go up into the choir loft and 'make music there.' He finds a new job in Mülhausen, where he marries his second cousin Maria Barbara.

Kommt, ihr T怀chter, helft mir klagen (St Matthew Passion, opening chorus)

Collegium Vocale Gent

Philippe Herreweghe (conductor)

Capriccio in E 'in honorem Johann Christoph Bachii Ohrdrufiensis', BWV 993

Angela Hewitt (piano)

Overture from French Overture in B minor, BWV 831

Steven Devine (piano)

Toccata in D minor, BWV 538, 'Dorian

Marie Claire Alain (organ)

Cantata: Gott ist mein K怀nig, BWV 71 (opening chorus)

Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists

John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

Cantata: Der Herr denket an uns, BWV 196

Concentus Musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt (conductor)

Presenter: Donald Macleod

Producer: Rosie Boulton.

Donald Macleod traces JS Bach's early life from childhood to first job and marriage.

In dulci jubilo, BWV 608

Simon Preston (organ)

So lasset uns gehen in Salem der Freuden (final chorus from Cantata BWV 182 - Himmelsk怀nig, sei willkommen)

Bach Collegium Japan

Masaaki Suzuki (conductor)

Partita No 2 in D minor, BWV 1004

Gidon Kremer (violin)

Aria: Sheep May Safely Graze, (Cantata BWV 208 - Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd!)

Magdalena Kozenက (mezzo)

Musica Florea

Marek Stryncl (conductor)

Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, BWV 903

Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord)

Presenter: Donald Mcleod

Producer: Rosie Boulton.

Donald Macleod looks at Bach's time in Weimar writing for the court chapel.

Aria: Es strahle die Sonne (Cantata BWV 66a - Der Himmel dacht auf Anhalts)

Mitteldeutsche Hofmusik

Alexander Ferdinand Grychtolik (conductor)

Brandenburg No 4 in G major, BWV 1049 (1st mvt: Allegro)

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Neville Marriner (conductor)

Concerto for Two Violins BWV 1043

Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman (violins)

English Chamber Orchestra

Daniel Barenboim (conductor)

Two-Part Inventions BWV 772-786

Andras Schiff (piano)

Presenter: Donald Mcleod

Producer: Rosie Boulton.

Donald Macleod explores J S Bach's time as Kapellmeister at the Court in Cothen.

Christen, 䀀tzet diesen Tag (Cantata BWV 63, opening chorus)

Collegium Vocale Gent, Philippe Herreweghe (conductor)

Partita No 2 in C minor, BWV 826

Martha Argerich (piano)

Magnificat in D major, BWV 243

Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

Presenter: Donald Mcleod

Producer: Rosie Boulton.

Donald Macleod paints a portrait of a Bach family Christmas in Leipzig.

Ricercar a 6 (Musical Offering, BWV 1079)

Musica Antiqua K怀ln

Reinhard Goebel (conductor)

Viola da gamba Sonata No. 3 in G minor, BWV 1029

Pablo Casals (cello) / Paul Baumgartner (piano)

Ich habe genug, BWV 82

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone)

Munich Bach Orchestra

Karl Richter (conductor)

Presenter: Donald Macleod

Producer: Rosie Boulton.

Donald Macleod traces Bach's final years in Leipzig.

Johann Sebastian Bach, who is now almost universally recognised as one of the giants of classical music, was not always so celebrated. In his own lifetime he received some public recognition but this contrasted with his regular complaints of unjust humiliations at the hands of his contemporaries and his employers. Was the composer hard done by or were these problems of his own making? In this week of programmes, Donald Macleod tries to get to the heart of Bach's character, warts and all, through five different periods in the composer's life. We'll be hearing from some of Bach's most glorious music, as Donald ponders what the composer's character might mean for our understanding of the man and his art.

In today's episode, Donald explores Bach's character through events in Arnstadt, the first place the composer had a proper, paid position. As Bach tries to put his first foot on the rungs of the music world, we'll hear about an ugly incident in Arnstadt's town square and a reprimand from his employers after a long leave of absence from the town without their agreement.

St Matthew Passion, BWV 244 - `Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder`

Vienna Boys' Choir

Schoenberg Choir

Concentus Musicus Wien

Nikolaus Harnoncourt (conductor)

Solo Violin Sonata no 1 in G minor, BWV 1001 - I. Adagio

Itzhak Perlman (violin)

Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150

Katharine Fuge (soprano)

Carlos Mena (counter-tenor)

Jan Kobow (tenor)

Stephan MacLeod (bass)

Ricercar Ensemble

Philippe Pierlot (conductor)

Passacaglia and fugue in C minor, BWV 582

Christopher Herrick (organ)

Ascension Oratorio, BWV 11- `Ach bleibe doch, mein liebstes Leben`

Meg Bragle (contralto)

Monteverdi Choir

English Baroque Soloists

John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

Producer: Sam Phillips

Donald Macleod follows Bach to his first job and examines the battles that followed.

Johann Sebastian Bach, who is now almost universally recognised as one of the giants of classical music, was not always so celebrated. In his own lifetime he received some public recognition but this contrasted with his regular complaints of unjust humiliations at the hands of his contemporaries and his employers. Was the composer hard done by or were these problems of his own making? In this week of programmes, Donald Macleod tries to get to the heart of Bach's character, warts and all, through five different periods in the composer's life. We'll be hearing from some of Bach's most glorious music, as Donald ponders what the composer's character might mean for our understanding of the man and his art.

Today, Donald explores some of Bach's formative childhood experiences including his schooling, the death of his father and a fortunate incident with a pair of fish heads!

Ein Feste Berg ist unser Gott, BWV 80 (Opening Chorus)

Monteverdi Choir

John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

Coffee Cantata, BWV 211 - `Hat man nicht mit seinen Kindern`

Brett Polegato (Baritone)

Tafelmusik

Jeanne Lamon (conductor)

Capriccio in E Major, BWV 993

Sviatoslav Richter (piano)

Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, BWV1041

Rachel Podger (violin)

Brecon Baroque

Sonata in A minor, BWV 965, after Reincken

Richard Egarr (harpsichord)

Producer: Sam Phillips

Donald Macleod examines Bach's childhood.

Johann Sebastian Bach, who is now almost universally recognised as one of the giants of classical music, was not always so celebrated. In his own lifetime he received some public recognition but this contrasted with his regular complaints of unjust humiliations at the hands of his contemporaries and his employers. Was the composer hard done by or were these problems of his own making? In this week of programmes, Donald Macleod tries to get to the heart of Bach's character, warts and all, through five different periods in the composer's life. We'll be hearing from some of Bach's most glorious music, as Donald ponders what the composer's character might mean for our understanding of the man and his art.

In Wednesday's episode, Donald explores Bach's time in Weimar, where friction between the composer and his employers reached a new nadir as Bach was put under arrest.

Suite No 2 in B minor, BWV 1067 - Overture

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

Jeanne Lamon (conductor)

Toccata & Fugue in F major, BWV 540

Anthony Newman (organ)

Christen, atzet diesen Tag, BWV 63 - 'H怀chster, schau in Gnaden an

Julia Doyle (soprano)

Joanne Lunn (soprano)

Clare Wilkinson (alto)

Nicholas Mulroy (tenor)

Matthew Brook (bass)

Dunedin Consort

John Butt (conductor)

Prelude & Fugue in E flat major, BWV 852 from The Well-Tempered Clavier

Keith Jarrett (piano)

Brandenburg Concerto No 6

Academy of Ancient Music

Richard Egarr (harpsichord & direction)

Producer: Sam Phillips

Johann Sebastian Bach, who is now almost universally recognised as one of the giants of classical music, was not always so celebrated. In his own lifetime he received some public recognition but this contrasted with his regular complaints of unjust humiliations at the hands of his contemporaries and his employers. Was the composer hard done by or were these problems of his own making? In this week of programmes, Donald Macleod tries to get to the heart of Bach's character, warts and all, through five different periods in the composer's life. We'll be hearing from some of Bach's most glorious music, as Donald ponders what the composer's character might mean for our understanding of the man and his art.

Today, Donald Macleod explores the Bach family's living circumstances.

Lute Suite in E minor, BWV 996 - Bour退e

Jakob Lindberg (Lute)

Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott, BWV 127

Dorothee Mields (soprano)

Matthew White (alto)

Jan Kobow (tenor)

Peter Kooy (bass)

Collegium Vocale Gent

Philippe Herreweghe (conductor)

Suite No 1 in G major for solo Cello, BWV 1007

David Watkin (Cello)

Ich habe genug, BWV 82 - 'Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen

Matthias Goerne (baritone)

Freiburger Barockorchester

Gottfried von der Goltz (conductor)

Producer: Sam Phillips

Johann Sebastian Bach, who is now almost universally recognised as one of the giants of classical music, was not always so celebrated. In his own lifetime he received some public recognition but this contrasted with his regular complaints of unjust humiliations at the hands of his contemporaries and his employers. Was the composer hard done by or were these problems of his own making? In this week of programmes, Donald Macleod tries to get to the heart of Bach's character, warts and all, through five different periods in the composer's life. We'll be hearing from some of Bach's most glorious music, as Donald ponders what the composer's character might mean for our understanding of the man and his art.

In this final programme, Donald examines Bach's time in Leipzig where despite a slightly better relationship with his employers, he still found himself under attack and labelled as outdated and old-fashioned. Donald also explores the intriguing meeting between Bach and Frederick the Great.

Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, BWV 135 - `Weicht, all'ihr Ubeltater`

Stephen Varcoe (bass)

The Monteverdi Choir

The English Baroque Soloists

John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

Fantasia in G, BWV 572

Simon Preston (organ)

Orchestral Suite No 3 - Air

Concerto Italiano

Rinaldo Alessandrini (conductor)

Mass in B minor, BWV 232 - Gloria in excelsis & Et in terra pax

Taverner Consort & Players

Andrew Parrott (conductor)

Musical Offering , BWV 1079 - Sonata for Flute, Violin and Continuo

Ensemble Sonnerie

The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 - Contrapunctus XIV

Joanna MacGregor (piano)

Producer: Sam Phillips