Composer of the Week: JS Bach

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Composer of the Week - Brand

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): What Maketh the Man?

What Maketh the Man?

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), What Maketh the Man?

Donald Macleod examines Bach’s childhood.

Donald Macleod examines 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!

Donald Macleod examines what we know of Bach's earliest influences.

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

Composer of the Week: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod tries to get to the heart of Bach's character, warts and all.

Donald Macleod examines Bach's character, warts and all, through five different periods in the composer's life, to try and get a better understanding of the man and his art.

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Composer of the Week

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

What Maketh the Man?

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