Day-long broadcast to honour Bach
The 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach is being marked on Friday by a 24-hour television broadcast of his compositions, transmitted throughout the world over the Eurovision network.
Details were announced in Geneva at the headquarters of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The highlights include live broadcasts of Bach’s B-Minor Mass from the Thomaskirche in Leipzig – where he was cantor of the boy’s choir – and of the St John Passion from Tokyo.
The www.bachdigital.org website will provide live coverage of the broadcast and listeners can read the music score online. The site will also offer a new comprehensive online reference library for Bach researchers and music aficionados.
An open-air show, “Swinging Bach”, will also be broadcast live over Eurovision from Leipzig’s market square.
About 400 musicians – including six orchestras, seven ensembles, three choirs, and 40 soloists – will feature in the programme. John Eliot Gardiner, Viktoria Mullova and Ton Koopman are among the musicians involved.
The EBU says 15 of its members in Europe are televising parts of the event, along with associate members NHK of Japan and PBS of the United States. Channels in France, Denmark and Switzerland will screen “24 Hours Bach” in its entirety.
At least 100 million television viewers in 40 countries are expected to tune in.
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