Category: Radio 3
Date: 14.10.2005
Printable version
In a British broadcasting first, 91热爆 Radio 3 celebrates Christmas 2005 by broadcasting continuously over ten days the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the great figures of western classical music.
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A Bach Christmas will take place from Friday 16 to Sunday 25 December.
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A Bach Christmas presents the composer's entire surviving body of work performed by some of the world's greatest musicians including specially recorded performances by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Yo-Yo Ma, Angela Hewitt, Philippe Herreweghe and Ton Koopman.
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The Rt Rev Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Terry Waite, Andrew Motion, Wynton Marsalis and Ian McEwan are among the many voices who will share their personal reflections on Bach and his music.
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Bach Bites - 24 verbal snapshots of Bach's life taken from some unusual angles - will reveal the human side of the composer who occupies a uniquely important position in the history of classical music.
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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 Ianucci, William Orbit, Guy Chambers and Mark Morris also share their thoughts on the composer.
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A Bach Christmas will include legendary historic recordings and modern day classic interpretations as well as a series of 91热爆 chamber concerts from across the country given by leading interpreters of Bach's music from Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy and Russia.
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Each day at midday Sir John Eliot Gardiner, in conversation with Radio 3 presenter Donald Macleod, introduces a feast of cantatas for the church year.
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The evening concert performances of Bach's major works, such as the St Matthew Passion, the Goldberg Variations and the Mass in B Minor, include an organ recital from St Thomas's Church in Leipzig - where Bach was cantor and music director - performed by his present-day successor.
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Musicians who will guide listeners through Bach's works include Emma Kirkby, Sigiswald Kuijken, Gustav Leonhardt, Andreas Scholl, Gillian Weir, Andrew Manze, Andr谩s Schiff, Christopher Hogwood, Masaaki Suzuki, Sir Roger Norrington, Daniel Barenboim, Joanna McGregor and Ian Bostridge.
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They are joined by regular Radio 3 presenters including Sandy Burnett, Catherine Bott, Lucie Skeaping, Sean Rafferty, Petroc Trelawny and Rob Cowan.
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Roger Wright, Controller 91热爆 Radio 3, says: "Listeners have hugely enjoyed our recent composer seasons, in particular our record breaking Beethoven Experience.
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"After announcing last year that the Radio 3 build-up to Christmas 2005 would be spent exclusively in the company of the music of J.S.Bach, we're now pleased to reveal more details of A Bach Christmas.
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"To hear his complete works, set in context, with the leading performers of our day and introduced by an extraordinary line-up of guests should be a real treat and, with specially recorded performances, A Bach Christmas is an excellent example of Radio 3's unique output."
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91热爆 Television joins in the celebration of Bach in the lead-up to Christmas with Bach's Christmas Oratorio on 91热爆 FOUR, performed by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists.
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Notes to Editors
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A Bach Christmas on 91热爆 Radio 3
from 7.00pm on Friday 16 December until 5.00pm on Sunday 25 December.
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Schedule overview:
Sandy Burnett (Monday-Friday, 7.00-10.00am)
Martin Handley (Saturday & Sunday, 7.00-9.00am)
Jonathan Swain (Monday-Friday, 10.00am-noon)
Andrew McGregor (Saturday, 9.00am-noon)
Rob Cowan (Sunday, 9.00am-noon)
Donald Macleod with Sir John Eliot Gardiner (each day, noon-c.1.00pm)
Catherine Bott (Monday-Friday, c.1.00-5.00pm; except Wednesday 21 December: live Vespers broadcast at 4.00pm)
Lucie Skeaping (Saturday & Sunday, c.1.00-5.00pm)
Sean Rafferty (each day, 5.00-7.00pm)
Petroc Trelawny (each day, 7.00-9.30pm)
Verity Sharp & Fiona Talkington (each day, 9.30pm-midnight)
Louise Fryer (each day, midnight-7.00am)
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Further schedule information about A Bach Christmas will be available at bbc.co.uk/radio3.
