BBC Radio 3 celebrated Christmas 2005 by broadcasting continuously over ten days the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Here are some of the highlights of the schedule.
The composer's entire surviving body of work was performed by some of the world's greatest musicians including specially recorded performances by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Angela Hewitt, Philippe Herreweghe and Ton Koopman.
Download a Pronunciation Guide to the German Titles of Works by Bach as a PDF file
The Rt Revd Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Terry Waite, Andrew Motion, Wynton Marsalis and Ian McEwan were among the many voices who shared their personal reflections on Bach and his music. Elvis Costello, Fiona Shaw, Baroness Julia Neuberger, Nitin Sawhney, Andrew Marr, Simon Russell Beale, Alan Rusbridger, Steve Reich, Nicholas Hytner, Jacques Loussier, Anthony Minghella, Alain de Botton, Siobhan Davies, Christopher Frayling, Professor Steve Jones, Armando Iannucci, William Orbit, Guy Chambers and Mark Morris ll also shared their thoughts on the composer.
There were legendary historic recordings and modern day classic interpretations as well as a series of BBC chamber concerts from across the country given by leading interpreters of Bach's music from Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy and Russia. Musicians who guided listeners through Bach's works include Emma Kirkby, Sigiswald Kuijken, Gustav Leonhardt, Andreas Scholl, Gillian Weir, Andrew Manze, András Schiff, Christopher Hogwood, Masaaki Suzuki, Sir Roger Norrington, Daniel Barenboim, Joanna McGregor and Ian Bostridge. They were joined by regular Radio 3 presenters including Sandy Burnett, Catherine Bott, Lucie Skeaping, Sean Rafferty, Petroc Trelawny and Rob Cowan.
Cantata Hour
At mid-day each day there was an hour devoted to possibly the greatest little-known body of music, Bach's cantatas: John Eliot Gardiner, in conversation with Donald Macleod, delved into the rich variety of the surviving 200 or so sacred cantatas.
Concerts at 7
These included Glenn Gould playing the Goldberg Variations, Cantatas from Masaaki Suzuki and from John Eliot Gardiner, The B minor Mass, the St Matthew Passion and an organ recital from St Thomas 's Church Leipzig - where Bach was cantor and music director - performed by his present-day successor.
Bach Bites
24 verbal snapshots of Bach's life taken from some unusual angles, revealed the human side of the composer who occupies a uniquely important position in the history of classical music.
Late-night Bach
Concerts from around the country of chamber music, organ, harpsichord, violin and lute recitals.
A Bach Christmas was framed by The Christmas Oratorio, with Parts 1 - 3 at 7 pm on Friday 16 December and Part 4 - 6 ended Radio Three's exploration of the complete surviving Bach on Christmas Day afternoon.
BBC Television wiljoined in the celebration of Bach in the lead-up to Christmas with Bach's Christmas Oratorio on BBC Four, performed by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists.
The Toccata and Fugue Celebration
As part of 'A Bach Christmas', Radio 3 in partnership with the Royal College of Organists organised an ambitious nationwide celebration of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.
The Toccata and Fugue Celebration.
