BBC – 21st Century Bach: The Organ Works – Vol. 1 (2004) Part #3
English | Documentary | Size: 339 MB
The indisputable master of Baroque music, Johann Sebastian Bach’s reputation is greater now than ever before. He wrote a huge number of works both for secular and religious purposes and was particularly famous in his time as a brilliant organist. This programme contains some of Bach’s finest organ music, played on well-restored, historically-authentic instruments that are closely linked with Bach by John Scott Whiteley, organist at York Minster. The works Whiteley has chosen this time include the Passacaglia in C minor, the ‘Great’ G minor Fantasia and Fugue, the Fourth Trio Sonata, the C major Toccata, Adagio and Fugue, and the chorale preludes from the Orgel-Buchlein collection, compiled at Weimar between 1713 and 1715.
This collection contains the first part of the first two series of the classic BBC production 21st-Century Bach, The Complete Organ Works. Originally broadcast as a late-night series for BBC2, 21st Century Bach presents performances by the world-class York Minster organist John Scott Whiteley in the churches and abbeys in Germany where Bach himself worked and performed, like Amorbach abbey and the Stadkirche Walterhausen. The organ at Amorbach Abbey was set up only two decades after his death, and Bach himself acted as an inspector for the organs of H. G. Trost, the organ builder at Walterhausen. The organs that Whiteley performs on are themselves works of art, captured in all their glory by use of pioneering camera-work with multiple camera angles for certain performances.
Series 1 was recorded using a number of authentic Baroque instruments played or inspected by Johann Sebastian Bach. Series 2 was recorded using a number of early 18th-century organs in Northern Germany and the Netherlands, some of which Johann Sebastian Bach himself played. The famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565) will be performed at Bath Abbey. In Lüneburg, where Bach attended school, the Passacaglia in C minor (BWV 582), the Prelude and Fugue in E flat major (BWV 552) and some pieces from the Orgel-Büchlein (BWV 639, 624, 641 and 622) are played. Finally, John Scott Whiteley plays the canonic variations on Vom Himmel on the particularly beautiful Schnitger organ in Neuenfelde; hoch (BWV 769), the Trio Allein Gott in der Höh’ sei Ehr’ (BWV 664) and Herzlich tut mich alles (BWV 727).
Extra features include commentarties by the performer, and an interview with Harvard Professor Christoph Wolff on the organ works.
Producer/Director: Norman Stone ; Associated-Rediffusion Television Production for BBC Wales
Part #3: “The Making of” 21st Century Bach & Slideshow Image Gallery Presentation (17:14 mins)
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