Planet Bach

It seems that every minute of every day, a musician is playing Bach’s music somewhere on our planet. Clemency Burton-Hill charts the playing of Bach across a day and around the globe with stories from musicians who each have a daily ritual of playing some of this music.

Ilay Kenes is an 11-year-old Belgian boy who plays some Bach on his guitar every morning when he gets out of bed. Other musicians around the world who play Bach every morning include Masaaki Suzuki on the harpsichord or organ in Tokyo, Hungarian-born organist Xaver Varnus in his own church in Nova Scotia, pianist Grant McLachlan looking out at Table Mountain from his house in Cape Town and cellist Nicola Yamazaki in Austria.

Some musicians play Bach every day but not at a set time. Iranian-born pianist Ramin Bahrami plays Bach whenever he needs him throughout the day. In one of Kenya’s largest slums, David Joroge shares the cello he plays with other students at the Art of Music Foundation and so he plays Bach Cello Suites every day, at a time when there’s a cello free.

Finally, British viola player, Robin Ireland plays last thing at night before bed in his house in Brittany.

Where did this daily ritual of playing Bach every day begin? Maybe with Beethoven or perhaps Mendelssohn. But it was the Catalan cellist Pablo Casals who wrote, "For the past 80 years I have started each day in the same manner. It is not a mechanical routine but something essential to my daily life. I go to the piano, and I play two preludes and fugues of Bach. I cannot think of doing otherwise. It is a sort of benediction on the house. Each day is something new, fantastic, unbelievable. That is Bach, like nature, a miracle!"

Clemency herself either listened to or played Bach every day for as long as she can remember. But in January 2020 she experienced a brain haemorrhage, and everything changed. After emergency surgery, she was unconscious for 17 days and then slowly emerged. She’s still working her way back to her own daily encounter with Bach’s music.

Producer: Rosie Boulton
A Must Try Softer production for BBV Radio 4

Bach music played:

Violinist Hilary Hahn: Adagio from Sonata No.3 in C major, BWV 1005
Guitarist Ilay Kenes: Prelude in E Major, BWV 1006a
Organist Xaver Varnus: Double Fugue in C minor, BWV 582B
Cellist Pablo Casals: Allemande from 1st Cello Suite in G major, BWV 1007
Pianist Grant McLachlan: Allemande from French Suite in G Major, BWV 816
Pianist Glenn Gould: Sarabande from Partita in C minor, BWV 826
Cellist David Joroge: Minuet from 1st Cello Suite in G major, BWV 1007
Violist Robin Ireland: Fugue from Violin Sonata in G minor (transcribed for viola) BWV 1001
Violinist Hilary Hahn: Adagio from Sonata No.3 in C major, BWV 1005