Some of the world's best violinists wait years before they dare to record the music Bach wrote for the violin alone. But Hilary Hahn is a different story. For her very first recording, released when she was just 17, Hahn chose solo Bach. Hahn says she's always had an affinity for Bach's music ? ever since she was a four-year-old learning with the Suzuki method. Now Hahn has established herself as one of the world's leading concert violinists, and Bach remains at the core of her repertoire. In this feature, Hahn tries to get at what it is that musicians especially love about playing Bach. And she offers a glimpse inside her approach to playing a multi-voiced fugue on the violin.

Hahn scored the 2009 Grammy for Best Classical Album for her recording of violin concertos by Schoenberg and Sibelius.

As in all the pieces in David Schulman's CPB-supported Musicians in their own words series, the story is told through a mix of the performer's voice and music. There is no reporter's voice heard, allowing the feature to be seamlessly incorporated into station news, talk, or music programming. Scripts for intro and outro are attached. This piece also works well pegged to local performances. This piece debuts on PRX. Hide full description

Some of the world's best violinists wait years before they dare to record the music Bach wrote for the violin alone. But Hilary Hahn is a different story. For her very first recording, released when she was just 17, Hahn chose solo Bach. Hahn says she's always had an affinity for Bach's music ? ever since she was a four-year-old learning with the Suzuki method. Now Hahn has established herself as one of the world's leading concert violinists, and Bach remains at the core of her repertoire. In this feature, Hahn tries to get at what it is that musicians especially love about playing Bach. And she offers a glimpse inside her ap...
Read the full description