The World
Donald Macleod travels from place to place with JS Bach, today exploring the afterlife of his music, including his interstellar excusion aboard the Voyager spacecraft.
Donald Macleod travels from place to place with JS Bach, today examining the afterlife of Bach’s music, including his propulsion into outer space aboard the Voyager spacecraft’s Golden Record.
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
St Matthew Passion
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
Goldberg Variations
Glenn Gould, piano
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Music Played
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Gavotte (Violin Partita No 3 in E major, BWV 1006)
Performer: Arthur Grumiaux.- PHILIPS 0289 438 7362.
- PHILIPS.
- 12.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Capriccio in E major, BWV 993
Performer: Sviatoslav Richter.- Deutsche Grammophon 138 950.
- Deutsche Grammophon -.
- 13.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
St Matthew Passion, BWV 244 (extract)
Singer: Kurt Equiluz. Ensemble: Concentus Musicus Vienna. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.- Telefunken 6.35047.
- Telefunken.
- 1.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
St Matthew Passion, BWV 244 (extract)
Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.- ARCHIV 0289 469 7692 0.
- ARCHIV.
- 15.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Performer: Glenn Gould.- SONY 88725411822.
- SONY.
- 1.
Broadcast
- Fri 22 Feb 201912:00BBC Radio 3
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