Johann Sebastian Bach

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I love Bach. Bach kept me sane during the worst days of my life when I was alone, poor, addicted to drugs, suicidal, failing school... I couldn't handle some trips but I couldn't do without them, you know? The paradox of the addict. Glenn Gould playing Bach would make all the troubles go away for a little while.

If Bach was my angel, Beethoven was my devil. Beethoven would hurl me close to insanity, but I flirted with mental Russian roulette anyway.

The music of Bach is my main musical interest.

The music of Bach is all about pattern.

Beautiful, glorious pattern.

I love everything about Bach, the cantatas, the fugues (specially the fugues) the concerti, the masses and passions ~ everything.

Click me for Baroque Goodness

This is "I Barocchisti", an awesome period instrument ensemble conducted by Diego Fasolis. To anyone who thinks that periods instruments lack the ability to play in tune or do not lend themselves to virtuosity, I'm sure these recordings will say otherwise. The Brandenburg 2 is especially good. The site is in Italian though. It's not particularly hard to understand though (Secondo Concerto = Second Concerto).

I do have a particular aptitude for J.S. Bach. I enjoy the Glenn Gould recordings of the WTC, English Suites, et cetera, as well as the Helmut Walcha recordings of the organ works (Toccata and Fugue in D Minor = bliss). My college has Bachfest every year in the spring and our orchestra and chorus does one of the great Bach choral works (B Minor, St. Matthew, St. John, and Christmas Oratorio). Our conductor does the best Bach choral conducting that I've heard. He also really keeps the orchestra in period performance practice despite the fact that we use modern instruments.

Whenever I find a particularly good recording, I'll post it here, so keep your eyes peeled.

I like Bach, I really need to study and get into it more.

Asparval, you are right on about the patterns. I love hearing patterns in music.

As a guitar student I get a lot of exposure to Bach. His lute pieces are amazing.

A funny note on the genius of Bach's use of counterpoint:

Today I was practicing with my friend (classical guitar duo) and we were playing one of the two part inventions. (In A minor). Well, one of us was a little bit off, and the reason we knew it was because there was a point where we both played the same note (I think it was an A)

It's funny because who else but Bach could write something that sounded wrong when both instruments played the SAME thing?

His ability to combine things astonishes me. You could play each part of the inventions separately, and it would be a lovely piece of music. The fact that he can combine them makes it all the more impressive.

Yes Bach is awesome. His interweaving patterns, layers, complexity = entrancing.

in before someone says he was an aspie even though someone already probably has

I would love to be a Bach geek. But where do I start with him?

I only know of that minuet everyone learns on piano and that Tetris song.

That depends on if you want to play the music on an instrument, or just listen.

If you play the piano, I'd suggest starting with pieces from "The Anna Magdelana Notebook" which may or may not have been written by him, but are usually attributed to him nonetheles. The Well-Tempered Klavier is good not only for technical practice, but it's not as advanced as pieces like the French Suite, and it builds confidence as it's enjoyable to play and listen to.

If you wish to start listening, I'd recommend the Brandenburg Concertos. Each one showcases a different instrument, and they show a large range of his genius.

Enjoy!

I like the Well-Tempered Clavier the best.

Nice Penfold avatar, BTW!

Tim

Well tempered clavier on piano.



It's some of my favorite music ever, if a little harder to find.

We studied it in my music appreciation class.

Tim

The Glenn Gould Recordings = perfection.

Here is the last fugue in two parts.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=iDSAXtsDB5k[/youtube]

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=NE0FMAJ0RKY[/youtube]