1939 Sauer organ at Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Bremen, Germany

Awaken to the coming of spring and simultaneously celebrate a most important anniversary this week on Pipedreams. We honor Johann Sebastian Bach while enjoying his music - both youthful escapades and mature profundities - as played by Simon Preston, E. Power Biggs, Jonathan Dimmock and Kate von Tricht. Other composers offer unusual homage, too, and Håkan Hagegård, Rupert Gough, and Stewart Foster provide a few unexpected surprises. Dress casually, come with a friend, but bring no gifts; the best ones are already on the table.

Everyone has an opinion, whether asked for or not. On our next Pipedreams program we’ll argue the opinions of eight esteemed artists, each of whom has a personal view of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. I’m not sure we’ll find, or even desire, a consensus, but we will be provoked by the playing of Harald Vogel, Wolfgang Rübsam, Kate van Tricht, and Anthony Newman. We’ll hear them perform on various instruments from Bach’s time and other organs inspired by history and by the methods by which music was generally created when those particular organs were built. The greatest music demands the greatest interpreters, and we find out just how broad the interpretive stage can be when eight players and as many instruments pay homage to the genius of Johann Sebastian. The interpretive pendulum swings Bach and Forth this week on Pipedreams.

This week we listen to recordings from generations before ours by performers who knew a thing or two about making Olde Sebastian’s scores come alive.

Poetic portraits and psalmists songs summon soothing images of lush summer fields and quiet times.

…history has been slow to acknowledge the evidence that women composers have accomplished plenty.

…a summary salute to the memory of several composers who reached significant milestones in the first half of this year.

…a multi-cultural exploration of diverse musicks for the Festival of the Nativity.

…some engaging confections, several of them ‘invented in the moment’, add to our enjoyment of this special time of year.

…across the centuries, women composers have shared their exceptional creativity.

Divergent views on matters of interpretation illuminate the familiar repertoire of a great master.

A sampler of unusual repertoire from one of Eastern Europe’s major musical centers.

Superb and sublime, this master-composer’s music never fails to take the organ to its expressive limits.

Exploring culture in amidst the territory of an ancient merchant’s federation in Dutch, German, Belgian, and Polish cities of the Hanseatic League.