Switched on Bach
28.10.2025,
At the end of the 1960s, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach helped a previously unknown instrument to make its breakthrough: the synthesiser. Walter (later Wendy) Carlos recorded ten works by Bach on a Moog synthesiser. As the instrument was monophonic, he had to produce and "cut together" each voice individually, which took more than five months. The record "Switched on Bach", released in 1968, was a great success and sold more than a million copies by 1974.
Previously, the synthesiser developed by physicist Robert Moog was a niche product that was mainly used in electronic studios at universities. It became widely known with Carlos' record, and well-known (and wealthy) bands such as the Doors, the Rolling Stones, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and the Beatles bought copies, even though they were complicated to operate with their immense possibilities.
The first Moog IIIp synthesiser in Germany belonged to the conductor and musician Eberhard Schoener. He acquired it in the USA in 1969 and it has been in the Deutsches Museum since 2019. Schoener also used works by Johann Sebastian Bach for his first LP realised with the instrument, "Destruction of Harmony".
And Walter Carlos? On his second record, "The Well-Tempered Synthesiser", he also played music by Bach, namely the Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major.
