Composer of the Week - Johann Sebastian Bach - One Fearsome Cantor - Bach in the 1720s

Donald Macleod looks at what was probably Bach's most fertile decade - the 1720s - one which marked the beginning of his 27-year spell as Cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig. The music includes the little-known cantata Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns halt, in a pre-release airing of a recording from John Eliot Gardiner's critically praised Bach Cantata series, made available exclusively to this programme. Prelude (Cello Suite No 1 in G), BWV 1007 Steven Isserlis (cello) Ouverture (Orchestral Suite) No 4 in D, BWV 1069 The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Ton Koopman (conductor) Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 869 (Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Bk I) Bob van Asperen (harpsichord) Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns halt, BWV 178 Robin Tyson (alto) Christoph Genz (tenor) Bridley Sherrat (bass) The Monteverdi Choir The English Baroque Soloists John Eliot Gardiner (conductor).