Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor

Available for 28 days

Sara Mohr-Pietsch surveys the musical landscape surrounding JS Bach's iconic Toccata and Fugue BWV 565. This keyboard tour-de-force is instantly recognisable: ask anyone to think of a piece for organ and they'll instantly recite those opening notes. But the work had to be rescued from obscurity, first by the great Bach revivalist Mendelssohn, then in the twentieth century by Stokowski with his classic reworking for Walt Disney's Fantasia. Sara also follows a path alongside some of the other great pieces for this monumental instrument, including music by Widor and an arrangement of Meredith Monk by James McVinnie. And an astonishing performance by violinist Rachel Podger gets Sara asking whether the Toccata and Fugue was even written for the organ. To listen to this programme on most smart speakers, just say: 'Ask BBC Sounds to play Music Map'.