Two hundred and fifty years after the death of J.S. Bach, the Bach cult still thrives.
It includes all manner of musicians, including jazz players from Louis Armstrong to Wynton Marsalis and rock bands like Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake and Palmer who made hits from Bach melodies.
Bach wrote vocal music – hundreds of Cantatas, multi-hour works on Christmas and the the Passion of Christ; his organ music dominates the organ repertoire the way Shakespeare rules the stage, his harpsichord pieces are the foundation of piano music, and dozens of smaller preludes, fugues, and toccatas are the bedrock of keyboard study and concert music to this day.
Two hundred and fifty years of Bach-on this hour.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Craig Smith