BBC RADIO 4's FRONT ROW - REFLECTIONS ON BACH (13 Dec 2005)

Presented by Mark Lawson

Special Programme: Reflections on Bach On tonight's ‘Front Row’ the writer Philip Pullman and the conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner come together to talk with Mark Lawson about their private correspondence.

The eminent conductor read Pullman's novel 'His Dark Materials' while spending the year 2000 performing Bach throughout the world, and wrote to the author. This has developed into a regular exchange in which each has reflected on Bach, on writing, on music, on language, on the creative process, and on the common ground between their two professions.

Tonight they make this private correspondence public, sharing their thoughts on story-telling, on working methods, on faith and on the extent to which the creative artist should attempt to be in control.

Click here to listen to the programme.