Glory to God Alone: The Life of J.S. Bach (2002)

Documentary. A good program for an elementary or a Sunday school class (or any curious adult) about Bach and his deeply human and spiritual influence on the whole of Western classical music. It covers the dates, places, and persons of influence in his musical career -- he was an expert organ player and builder at age 17 -- and provides professionally recorded excerpts of numerous Bach compositions as well as glimpses of original Bach musical manuscripts while Harvard professor Christopher Wolff and classical guitarist Christopher Parkening explain the "layering" and complexity of Bach's music. Produced as a Mosaic "video magazine" episode by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America but with no denominational territoriality at all. 3.5 stars.