Johann Sebastian Bach

"Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" - dieses Lied gilt als DAS Reformationslied schlechthin. Martin Luther hat es um 1529 in Anlehnung an Psalm 46 gedichtet und auch die Melodie komponiert. Das Lied wurde bald zum Symbollied der Protestanten. Heinrich Heine hat es als "Marseiller Hymne der Reformation" bezeichnet, Friedrich Engels gar als "Marseillaise der Bauernkriege." Johann Sebastian Bach hat mit seiner Vertonung des Luther-Textes eine seiner großartigsten...

“An ode to silence” is how harpsichordist Jean Rondeau has described Bach’s Goldberg Variations. “I feel they were written for silence, in the sense that they take the place of silence,” he says. “All Bach is there in the Goldberg Variations … all music is there ... and I will no doubt spend my life working on them.” To prepare his interpretation he consulted an original printed edition of the work, containing Bach’s own markings...

Notated on four staves, as though intended for some unspecified set of instruments (or even voices), these thirteen erudite contrapuncti, four canons, and an unfinished triple fugue-incorporating the letters of Bach's name-are often considered to be his musical testament. Shrouded in myths traceable to it's very origins, this is a puzzle for the performers and for the listeners alike, but when a brilliant string quartet takes up the challenge, a solution...

At the age of nine, Hilary Hahn embarked on a lifelong musical exploration of the solo violin works of J.S, Bach. At seventeen, she released her debut album of that repertoire to global popular and critical acclaim. With this new, long-awaited recording, Hahn completes her set of solo sonatas and partitas by Bach and brings two decades of her celebrated career full circle.

Yo-Yo Ma plays Bach.