Bach: Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor - Stokowski in Germany

In 1969, during one of his annual trips to Europe, Leopold Stokowski gave a televised performance of his own orchestration of Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor with the Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra. Incidentally, Stokowski was the only conductor to encourage “free-bowing“ in the string sections. He felt that string players should not be regimented by playing up-bows and down-bows together but rather that they should achieve the music’s phrasing individually. This method also contributed to the famous “Stokowski Sound“ as will be heard here.