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Bach: A Passionate Life

Duration: 1 hour, 29 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Two HDLatest broadcast: on BBC Four

John Eliot Gardiner goes in search of Bach the man and the musician.

The famous portrait of Bach portrays a grumpy 62-year-old man in a wig and formal coat, yet his greatest works were composed 20 years earlier in an almost unrivalled blaze of creativity.

We reveal a complex and passionate artist; a warm and convivial family man at the same time a rebellious spirit struggling with the hierarchies of state and church who wrote timeless music that is today known world-wide. Gardiner undertakes a 'Bach Tour' of Germany, and sifts the relatively few clues we have - some newly-found.

Most of all, he uses the music to reveal the real Bach. Show less

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