30 Bach Podcast

It began with Glenn Gould. And a desire to see how this music was part of people’s daily life. The podcast explores J.S. Bach’s masterwork, the “Goldberg Variations,” with leading interpreters and innovators, including Angela Hewitt, Simone Dinnerstein, Dan Tepfer, the Borromeo String Quartet, Imani Winds, HieYon Choi, and Mahan Esfahani. Over the course of 15 episodes, the podcast unpacks the music and puts it together again, ultimately arriving at a composite version of the whole work, played in segments by the various interviewees. At the same time, each episode explores a different theme evoked by the music, and its effect on the interviewees. For example, one episode touches on the idea of creativity within constraints with a former principal designer of the Apple iPhone and his teacher, who together attempted to learn the variations. Another delves into the legacy of Bach the improviser with Dan Tepfer, a brilliant jazz pianist who improvises over the structure of the piece. Yet another explores the piece as a source of solace, with commentary from Washington Post critic Philip Kennicott, who wrote a book about learning the piece as a way of processing his mother’s death.

For more information about the podcast, please visit the website: https://www.thirtybach.com. You can also access a teaser on Apple or Spotify, where you can subscribe.