A Musical Journey: Germany, Bach's Homeland

The Places: This tour of Germany and, in particular, Thuringia, takes us to places associated with Johann Sebastian Bach, to his birth-place, Eisenach, to Arnstadt where he had early employment, and to Leipzig, where he spent the last 27 years of his life. We also see the historic town of Gotha with Schloss Friedenstein and its surviving baroque theatre, Erfurt, and Naumburg, with its Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul.

The Music: The music for this tour of Germany is taken from three keyboard concertos by Bach, originally written for harpsichord but here heard on the piano, an instrument only beginning to develop in Bach's time. Bach's keyboard concertos, many of the arrangements of earlier works for other solo instruments, were written in Leipzig, where, in 1729, Bach took over direction of the University Collegium Musicum. This ensemble of talented amateurs and professionals met on Wednesday afternoons at Gottfried Zimmerman's coffee-house or in summer on Friday evening in his garden outside Leipzig.

Price: $15.98