This evening’s final episode of BBC4’s Sacred Music presented by Simon Russell Beale was all about Johann Sebastian Bach and the Lutheran legacy.
It started with his Toccata & Fugue, a wonderful piece of organ music that can be one of the most uplifting things you will ever hear.
I remember many years ago on a study trip to Nuremberg, I made friends with some Germans who were studying at the city’s Konservatorium.
One night, after a few beers, one of the students took us into a local church that he had the keys to, so he could practise the organ.
At well after midnight, we were the only ones in the church and the student treated us to a rendition of Bach’s Toccata.
I’m not a religious person, but it was one of the most spiritually uplifting things I had experienced.
This clip won’t exactly recreate the same feeling, but enjoy it all the same.
