Bach in America

Germany is not alone celebrating the Bach year 2000. Americans are just as fascinated with the Thomas Kantor of Leipzig who is older than their own nation. The cradle of American Bach culture can be found in Bethlehem, an old industrial town in the state of Pennsylvania, where Moravian settlers introduced Bach's music almost 170 years ago. Since then, his music has spread into all parts of the population. Musicologists in the New World made astonishing findings about the old German master composer, while school children in a predominantly black neighborhood in Washington, D.C., are introduced to Bach by musicians who perform little sketches. Famous jazz musicians and other entertainers have also been inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach. Georg Hirsch takes a look at the American Bach community.

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