A review by eleanorfranzen
Something of his Art: Walking to Lubeck with J. S. Bach by Horatio Clare

4.0

This is based on a "slow radio" series that Horatio Clare presented on Radio 3. I'm new to the concept of slow radio, but it seems not unlike slow television, a broadcasting trend that seeks to reverse frenetic media consumption and bring us all back to the important things in life, like watching seven hours' worth of Norwegian train journey. Clare's programs sought to follow in the footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach, who as a young man walked from Arnstadt to Lubeck in order to hear Dietrich Buxtehude's organ playing. (Buxtehude was sort of the Bach of his day. The only excuse Bach ever gave his employers for disappearing for four months was that he wished to learn "something of his art". Because the record we have is in the third person, it's unclear whether Bach means his art, or Buxtehude's, or - more pleasingly - both.) Unsurprisingly, I wanted more Bach and less birdsong, but Horatio Clare is really a travel writer so this seems a slightly unfair demand. He also hints at some truly interesting moments - there's an especially surreal dinner in a German mountain canteen that used to be a Cold War militarized zone - of which the brevity of this format and project doesn't allow elaboration. Terribly atmospheric anyway, though.