Js Bach (1685-1750)

Magnificat

La Chapelle Royale

Collegium Vocale

Philippe Herreweghe, conductor

Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G major

European Brandenburg Ensemble

Trevor Pinnock, conductor

Concerto in C major

i.Allegro

Marie-Claire Alain, organ

Partita No.1

i Praeludium

ii Allemande

iii Corrente

Glenn Gould, piano

Widerstehe doch der Sunde

Iestyn Davies, countertenor

Arcangelo

Jonathan Cohen, conductor

Capriccio on the Departure of his Most Beloved Brother

Wolfgang Rubsam, piano

Donald Macleod accompanies JS Bach on his travels from place to place throughout his life.

Bach first worked in Weimar as a court musician at the age of 18. He moved on again after seven months, to take up a church appointment in nearby city of Arnstadt, but he returned to Weimar again five years later, as court organist and later also concertmaster. It was in Weimar that Bach would write most of his organ music. But his time there was compounded by the fact that he found himself in the uncomfortable position of being a servant to two antagonistic Dukes. Bach had his work cut out trying to keep his two Dukes happy.

Komm, Jesu, Komm

Monteverdi Choir

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Toccata and Fugue in D minor

Marie-Claire Alain, organ

Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor

Chaconne

Itzhak Perlman, violin

Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn

4. Aria: `Stein, der über alle Sch䀀tze

5. Recit: `Es 䀀rgre sich die kluge Welt`

6. Duet: `Wie soll ich dich, Liebster der Seelen, umfassen?`

The Monteverdi Choir

English Baroque Soloists

The Art of Fugue

Keller Quartet

Andras Keller, violin

Janos Pilz, violin

Zoltan Gal, viola

Otto Kertesz, cello

Donald Macleod accompanies JS Bach on his travels from place to place throughout his life.

Cello Suite No.1 in G Major

Yo-Yo Ma, cello

Sonata for Violin and Piano #3

Keith Jarrett, piano

Michelle Makarski, violin

Concerto No.2 in F major

Bach Collegium Japan

Masaaki Suzuki, conductor

Well-Tempered Clavier, No 1 in C major

Angela Hewitt, piano

Donald Macleod accompanies JS Bach on his travels from place to place throughout his life.

He was a public servant again, faced with having to satisfy a plethora of different bodies and individuals. And, although Bach's time in Leipzig was peppered with disputes and discontent, it was his home for 27 years and it is where he composed the bulk of the work that lives on.

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

Monteverdi Choir

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Sonata No.1 in G minor

i.Adagio

Gidon Kremer, violin

Orchestral Suite No.4 in D major

Munich Bach Orchestra

Karl Richter, conductor

Musical Offering

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Sir Neville Marriner, conductor

Mass in B minor

Gloria in excelsis Deo

Et in terra pax

Laudamus te

The Sixteen

The Symphony of Harmony and Invention

Harry Christophers, conductor

When the astronomer Carl Sagan asked for suggestions as to what music should be included on the Golden Record, the writer Lewis Thomas responded: `I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach,` adding, `but that would be boasting.`

It's a long way from Leipzig, where Bach died in 1750, when it was by no means certain that his music would endure. Indeed much of it didn't. JS Bach slipped quietly from view so that by the end of the 19th century there was no gravestone to mark where he was buried.

Partita for Violin Solo No. 3 in E Major

III. Gavotte en Rondeau

Arthur Grumiaux, violin

Capriccio in E major

Sviatoslav Richter, piano

St Matthew Passion

Concentus Musicus

Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor

Monteverdi Choir

English Baroque Soloists

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Goldberg Variations

Glenn Gould, piano

Johann Sebastian Bach is often acknowledged as one of the greatest composers of all time and yet, during his lifetime, he was often more famous as an organist. Bach became very much in demand as a performer and a teacher. He was often asked to advise on the design and renovation of expensive church instruments. He composed a great deal of music for organ and was particularly productive during his twenties and early thirties when working at the court in Weimar. All this week Donald Macleod examines Bach's life and music through the lens of his life-long fascination with the organ, focusing particularly on his time in Weimar and exploring his role as performer organist, teacher, servant, entrepreneur and composer.

In this first programme Donald Macleod takes us from Bach's first childhood encounters with the organ, through to his move to Weimar and a visit to Dresden where he was asked to take part in a musical play-off against the French keyboard player Louis Marchand, a musical competition that had a surprising result.

Brandenburg Concerto No 3, BWV 1048 (ohne Satzbezeichnung)

The English Concert

Trevor Pinnock, director

Sonata No 2 in C minor, BWV 526

Peter Hurford, organ

Prelude and Fugue in G major, BWV 550

Simon Preston, organ

Christen, 䀀tzet diesen Tag, BWV 63

Claron McFadden, soprano

Sally Bruce-Payne, alto

James Gilchrist, tenor

Peter Harvey, bass

The Monteverdi Choir

The English Baroque Soloists

John Elliot Gardiner, conductor

Donald Macleod explores Bach's early career as an organist.

Johann Sebastian Bach is often acknowledged as one of the greatest composers of all time and yet, during his lifetime, he was often more famous as an organist. Bach became very much in demand as a performer and a teacher. He was often asked to advise on the design and renovation of expensive church instruments. He composed a great deal of music for organ and was particularly productive during his twenties and early thirties when working at the court in Weimar. All this week Donald Macleod examines Bach's life and music through the lens of his life-long fascination with the organ, and focusing particularly on his time in Weimar and exploring his role as performer organist, teacher, servant, entrepreneur and composer.

Bach spent much of his early career in service to local aristocrats around central Germany. Musicians were regarded as servants and during Bach's teens, when he was briefly employed at Weimar, the court accounts describe him as a 'lackey'. Bach returned to Weimar in 1708, as organist to the elder Duke of Saxe-Weimar. There, he spent much time in the Court Chapel, also known as the 'Himmelsburg' or 'Heaven's Castle', wrestling with the unsatisfactory positioning of the organ relative to the choir. Bach was evidently valued by his employer and promoted to the position of Concertmaster, which gave him more opportunities to compose cantatas. However, Bach increasingly found himself caught in the middle of court disagreements.

Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565

Piet Kee, organ

Concerto for Harpsichord in G minor, BWV 1058

Ton Koopman, harpsichord & director

The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra

Cantata No 162 ‘Ach, ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe', BWV 162

Yumiko Kurisu, soprano

Yoshikazu Mera, counter-tenor

Makoto Sakurada, tenor

Peter Kooy, bass

Bach Collegium Japan

Masaaki Suzuki, director

Concerto in A minor, BWV 593

Daniel Chorzempa, organ

Johann Sebastian Bach is often acknowledged as one of the greatest composers of all time and yet, during his lifetime, he was often more famous as an organist. Bach became very much in demand as a performer and a teacher. He was often asked to advise on the design and renovation of expensive church instruments. He composed a great deal of music for organ and was particularly productive during his twenties and early thirties when working at the court in Weimar. All this week Donald Macleod examines Bach's life and music through the lens of his life-long fascination with the organ, focusing particularly on his time in Weimar and exploring his role as performer organist, teacher, servant, entrepreneur and composer

Much of what we know about Bach's early career has been preserved in the accounts and contracts written at the institutions where he worked. In this programme Donald Macleod explores what these sources can tell us about Bach and the world of business. Bach had already demonstrated his ambitious and determined nature from an early age; aged 20, he had undertaken a walk of 250 miles to hear the greatest organ virtuoso of the day, Buxtehude. Bach remained in Lübeck far longer than he should have, and was taken to task on his return for abandoning his duties. Bach argued that his visit to hear Buxtehude had greatly helped him develop as a musician. He quickly worked through appointments at Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, and then Weimar. Each new job brought better prospects and an improved salary. Bach negotiating skills extended to using a job offer from Halle to bargain for in increase his salary and status from his current employer, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar.

Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542

Marie-Claire Alain, organ

Concerto for two violins and strings in D minor, BWV 1043

Simon Standage, violin & director

Micaela Comberti, violin

Collegium Musicum 90

Toccata and Fugue in D minor (Dorian), BWV 538

Carlo Curley, organ

St Matthew Passion, BWV 244

Nicholas Mulroy (Evangelist), tenor

Dunedin Consort and Players

John Butt, Director

Donald Macleod delves into JS Bach's business dealings.

Johann Sebastian Bach is often acknowledged as one of the greatest composers of all time and yet, during his lifetime, he was often more famous as an organist. Bach became very much in demand as a performer and a teacher. He was often asked to advise on the design and renovation of expensive church instruments. He composed a great deal of music for organ and was particularly productive during his twenties and early thirties when working at the court in Weimar. All this week Donald Macleod examines Bach's life and music through the lens of his life-long fascination with the organ, focusing particularly on his time in Weimar and exploring his role as performer organist, teacher, servant, entrepreneur and composer.

In this programme Donald Macleod explores Bach's experiences as an organ student and, later, as a a highly sought after teacher. Bach's own education in music was sometimes fraught. His older brother wouldn't allow the young Johann Sebastian to explore a book of keyboard pieces he owned, so Bach secretly purloined the book at night and studied it by moonlight. Bach would eventually have pupils of his own and his reputation grew to such a pitch that pupils would travel to study with him from all over the German-speaking lands. His students would often live in with Bach's family, and the composer would charge them accordingly! Whilst in Weimar, Bach trained a number of organists and his pupils would often take on extra duties like copying out music or pumping the bellows of the organ.

Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582

Karl Richter, organ

Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, BWV 564

Lionel Rogg, organ

Brandenburg Concerto No 2, BWV 1047

The English Concert

Trevor Pinnock, director

The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (Prelude and Fugue in C major), BWV 867

Andras Schiff, piano

The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (Prelude and Fugue in C minor), BWV 847

Donald Macleod imagines taking lessons alongside the great JS Bach.

Johann Sebastian Bach is often acknowledged as one of the greatest composers of all time and yet, during his lifetime, he was often more famous as an organist. Bach became very much in demand as a performer and a teacher. He was often asked to advise on the design and renovation of expensive church instruments. He composed a great deal of music for organ and was particularly productive during his twenties and early thirties when working at the court in Weimar. All this week Donald Macleod examines Bach's life and music through the lens of his life-long fascination with the organ, focusing particularly on his time in Weimar and exploring his role as performer organist, teacher, servant, entrepreneur and composer

In this programme Donald Macleod looks at how Bach evolved as a composer during his years at the Weimar court where he had a rich array of instrumental forces at his disposal. As well as writing for his employer, Bach also composed a great deal of music for his family to perform at home. He also often turned to instruments that were archaic even at the time, like the viola da gamba, recorder and lute. One of his primary friendships during this period was with his cousin Walther, who was an organist at the town Church. Walther and Bach enjoyed exploring together the music that Prince Johann Ernst had brought back to Weimar from his Grand Tour in Italy. Bach and Walther drank in works by Albinoni, Corelli, Frescobaldi and, especially, Vivaldi. These Italian influences started to creep into Bach's own music.

Lute Suite in E minor, BWV 996

Sean Shibe, guitar

Concerto in D minor, BWV 596 (Vivaldi Violin Concerto Op 3 No 11)

Christopher Herrick, organ

Mass in B minor, BWV 232 (Osanna in excelsis, Agnus Dei, Dona Nobis Pacem)

Robin Blaze, alto

Bach Collegium Japan Chorus and Orchestra

Masaaki Suzuki, director

Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532

Wolfgang Ruebsam, organ

Donald Macleod explores Bach's journey as a composer in Weimar.