Restoring the Sacred

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Bach on the "Firing Line"





Willima F. Buckley, Jr. hosted "Firing Line" from 1966-1999, making it the longest-running public affairs show in TV history with a single host. Buckley hosted 1,504 "Firing Line" programs, and won an EMMY for the show in 1969. It was one of the most erudite shows ever to appear on television, and the theme picked by Buckley to introduce the program was J. S. Bach's Brandenberg Concerto #2 in F Major, Third Movement. It's interesting to note that The Teaching Company (www.Teach12.com) uses the same theme to introduce the majority of its "Great Courses" on compact disks.

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685-1750, lived his entire life in Germany, and is considered the quintessential composer of Baroque Music. The Brandenberg Concerti are six in number and are generally considered the finest musical compositions of the Baroque Era. Bach first presented all six of the concertos in 1721, but they most likely were composed over a number of years. The middle photo (right under WFB), as you have by now surmised, is J. S. Bach himself.

Wynton Marsalis, whose rendition of the "Firing Line" theme you should now be enjoying, is currently the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He is recognized as one of the world's top classical trumpeters, and is also considered the most outstanding jazz musician and trumpeter of his generation. He's amazing!