Once again, the day is upon us – Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday. WWFM – The Classical Network is heading into the homestretch on its annual “Bach 500.” Every year, it has been the station’s custom to celebrate Bach while amassing 500 listener donations IN ANY AMOUNT. You set the level. Once the 500 is achieved, the fundraising ends and we douse one another with champagne, metaphorically speaking. The bubbly is in the music.
Please do your part to support classical music in your community and, by way of internet streaming, around the world. It’s contributions from listeners like you that provide a home for shows like “Picture Perfect” and “The Lost Chord.”
How do you make it happen? It’s easy! Head on over to wwfm.org, and click on “Become a member of our Bach 500,” or follow the link below. Or do it the old-fashioned way and call 1-888-232-1212.
Less than 250 laps left in this race! Thank you for your support, and go, JSB, go!
It’s the final morning for the WWFM Bach 500! Make a donation now, and this afternoon enjoy an all-Bach “Sounds Choral” at 2 pm and an all-Bach “Sunday Opera,” featuring three of his cantatas (since Bach wrote no opera), and more, at 3 pm EDT.
Of course, you’re getting all-Bach this morning, as well, but the fundraising will stop as soon as we cross the finish line of 500 contributions in any amount.
Consulting the membership thermometer on the station’s homepage, I see we’ve got just over 50 donations to go. If you haven’t contributed in a while, and you enjoy the service, and you can afford to so, please commit to whatever you can. Even $20 pushes us that much closer to the goal.
Again, we are looking for numbers of participants in this one, not dollar amounts. Once we reach 500 contributions, fundraising ends, and then we’re on to just Bach’s music.
Looking forward to that victory lap soon! Have a cup of coffee, then enjoy the “Coffee Cantata.” Your contribution keeps us in beans. Call now at 1-888-232-1212, or join us online at wwfm.org.
Thank you for your support of WWFM – The Classical Network, and happy birthday, Bach!
We made it! 500 donations achieved! We’ve crossed the finish line of this year’s Bach 500! Thank you for your generous support of WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org. Lots more Bach on the way, free of fundraising interruptions.
Enjoy the music on this lovely spring day, and get on to the important business of Sunday brunch, a winning combination of Bach and pancakes!
Poor Telemann. He was a casualty of having done his job too well.
He wrote more music than Bach and Handel combined – over 3000 works – making him one of the most prolific composers of all time. Yet nothing in his oeuvre has captured the public imagination quite like the “Brandenburg Concertos” or the “Water Music.”
Of course, he wrote “Water Music” too.
On the other hand, he was recognized in his own lifetime. He was an innovator, assimilating Italian and French influences into his own style, and his contemporaries bought and studied his scores. He was offered the cantorate of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, ahead of Bach. He counted Bach among his friends, as well as Handel. Bach even requested that he be the godfather of his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel.
Telemann lived an unusually long life (86 years), though it was not without its miseries. His first wife died young. His second ran up gambling debts in amounts larger than his annual income. Ultimately, his friends had to bail him out. As he grew older, he suffered further indignities, including failing eyesight.
Celebrated in his own day, by the 19th century he was dismissed as a “polygraph,” someone who had simply composed too much. In a sense, he was a victim of his own success.
Today, he inspires renewed enthusiasm among early music specialists, who have done much to restore his reputation. At the very least, he deserves a little recognition on his birthday.
Happy Birthday, Georg Philipp Telemann!
One of my favorite Telemann moments, the “Air à l’Italien” from the Suite in A Minor for Flute and Orchestra:
Always been partial to this one, too:
While we’re on the topic of Baroque masters, allow me to offer a gentle remind that we are now only a week away from Bach’s birthday. WWFM The Classical Network is looking to generate enough donations to cancel fundraising on March 21, so that we can all celebrate with just Bach’s music. To make it happen, we need 500 listeners to step up and contribute IN ANY AMOUNT. Once the 500 donations are reached, the focus will shift exclusively to the music.
Already the tally is at the halfway point. Contribute now, and become one of the “Bach 500.” Thank you for doing your part in making this campaign a success and in ensuring a home for great music from the Baroque and beyond, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org!
