I LOVE BACH! (but no one seems to talk about it)

seth · Not So Newbie Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 7

I am a big fan of Bach and the only person who ever talks about him with me is my podiatrist. How sad i that? So if anyone else shares this infatuation, send a reply here w. yur email. Thanks

Chaszz

quote:
Originally posted by seth:
I am a big fan of Bach and the only person who ever talks about him with me is my podiatrist. How sad i that? So if anyone else shares this infatuation, send a reply here w. yur email. Thanks

Well the idea is to share talk about Bach on this forum. It is under-used. I spend time on a Beethoven forum which is much busier than this one. And guess what, I talk about Bach there!! How about some more postings here?

Marcoaurelius Vanhausen

we got to share to the world this beatiful treasure most of the people dont talk about bach because they dont know his music because of the little distribution of his music they dont know what are missing .

geertgooskens · Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2003 1:22 pm Post subject: Well let's talk about bach!!!

Hello, i'm geert a 18 years old student from the netherlands and i think bach is the father of all music; he's the most pure composer; just like socrates was the most pure philosopher.
Sometimes when i listen to bach it just feels like god is putting his hand on my shoulder. My favourite bach pieces are:
- the b-minor mass (especially the first 'kyrie')
this mass is bach's vocal legacy; best arias and choruses from his cantatas with latin texts.
- i also love the two great passion (arias like 'aus liebe will mein heiland sterben, mach dich meine herze rein, est ist volbracht and zerfliesse mein herze' can still make me cry.
- the concertos for violin, harpsicord and oboe are also great. the fast movements are full of energy and power and the slow movements.... Crying or Very sad

I'm really found of english baroque conductors/performers (pinnock, gardiner) because:
- they are not 'sentimental' bach performers
- period instruments
- small ensembles (english concert, english baroque soloists)
- great choirs (monteverdi choir; when they sing bach all the fugues and counterpoint stuff are very clear).

What are you favorite bach: conductors/choirs/ensembles???

Chaszz · Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2003 1:59 pm Post subject:

Having grown up in the fifties and sixties, I find the tempos for Bach allegro movements by these original instruments groups too fast. I agree on using authentic instruments, but who knows what the tempos of these pieces actually were? Some of Bach's beautiful long lines, expecially for the violin, become simply races to cram in all the notes if possible, rather than elegant and beautiful constructions, at the breakneck fast tempos they use nowadays.

- Not yet an old codger but on the brink

Hugh Thomas · Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2003 7:21 am Post subject:

Do you dance?

In the same way that Haydn's minuet movements were for years performed at a tempo well below par, Bach's movements which were based on dances had also been neglected for most of the last century and his tremendous sense of rhythm understated. It is barely possible to tap your foot to some early 20th Century renditions. In relation to this I find the quicker pace of more recent performances offers a better clarity of structure to Bach’s allegro movements and although, when studied slowly, the ingenuity of the composer becomes apparent as the harmony unfolds, it is important to remember that the aesthetics of baroque music were mainly concerned with impressing the listener, rather than inducing romantic conjecture. Maybe it’s just my impatient ear though…

Certainly Bach's own virtuosic ability in the hot-house musical environment of Saxony meant that high speeds would have been possible, although I do wonder whether Reinhard Goebel sometimes goes too far (last movement of Brandenburg 3, DG label).

Don’t know if Bach did much dancing though, the old queen.

Chaszz · Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2003 8:26 am Post subject:

The old QUEEN ??

What do you mean by that?

Hugh Thomas · Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:41 am Post subject:

I was just using the term affectionately with regard to Bach, whilst thinking about him mincing around a dancefloor.

Chaszz · Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2003 5:59 am Post subject:

I don't think Bach did much dancing. I can't ever recall a reference to him doing so.

Dance forms gave their names and spirits to movements in classical music, but the direct connection with dance was at some remove. I could be wrong, but I think 18th century audiences for music sat in chairs, as we do today, except when the music was played specifically for dancing. Would a Bach suite for orchestra, for instance, have been played to dance to? Interesting point. Can some member enlighten us on this?

In any case, the Bach which I grew up on, was anything but lacking in rhythm. I grew up with jazz also, and recall making many connections between that music and Bach's. He SWUNG. And to bring him up to date, he ROCKED also. If anything, there was more rhythmic quality in those performances than in many of today's, where you cannot hear the notes in the allegros because they are played so fast. I don't have this problem with the andantes.

Happymelody · Hamster Joined: 15 Apr 2003 Posts: 88 Location: Ca

I have to admit that I don't know much about Bach and thus don't have much to offer. I didn't even realize that most people in his era would listen to the music in chairs unless it was specifically intended to dance to.

As a matter of trivia (and maybe someone can confirm this for me?) I remember hearing some where that the French Suites were written as a teaching step stone for a person's level of playing after the Anna Magadela Bach music but before Partitas.

Unfortunately, Bach will never be a hot hot hot commodity today because modernly he doesn't have a real marketing department, flashy clothes, and a music video to boot! Laughing

_________________
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.
Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865), speech in Washington D.C., 1865

Jenny · Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2003 6:24 pm Post subject:

Maybe in about 250 years, Bach will be a hot topic again. Think about it. People are starting to wear 70's clothes again and if it keeps going, people might eventually go back to wearing long dresses, fancy suits, and powdered wigs again. How cool would that be?
_________________
"Out of my way, you butterfingered bassoonist!" --JS Bach

Contrapunctus · Newbie Alert Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 2

Thomaner · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 1:32 pm Post subject:

Join Thomanerchoir Wink

_________________
Ohne Musik wäre das Leben ein Irrtum.
(Without music life wouldnt make sense.)
Nietzsche

mortal · Newbie Alert Joined: 04 Apr 2006 Posts: 1

lot of people consider mozart as the biggest music composer of all times.
I must say i disagree.
Since I heard music composed by the greatest Bach i couldnt stop listening to it.
In terms of playing is also really challenging, specially when you play the guitar. It becomes a pain, but once youre in there you cant stop.
Its amazing how a humang can achieve that level of perfection and how deep it goes. Sometimes you feel like there is a God message in him......
We should do something so that human kind can listen to this music.....

fox_druid