# J.S. Bach Appreciation Thread



## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 6, 2018)

Last year I interned at a composer studio and was surprised to learn that many of my youthful colleagues did not enjoy the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. "We can appreciate them on an intellectual level" was the refrain, "but we don't enjoy them." "What is wrong with kids these days?" thought I, but upon reflection it occurred to me that perhaps these young maestros never had a violin teacher like mine, who often exclaimed that Bach was "the rock 'n' roller of his day" between admonishments of "chin up, chin up!" 

So I wanted to create a thread here on VI-CONTROL where those who already love Bach's works can share their favorite pieces, performances, and recordings, and where those who haven't yet found a pathway to enjoyment of the godfather of modern music's brilliance might be initiated into this pleasure. 

Let me get things started with a few I keep in heavy rotation...


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## Rodney Money (Jun 6, 2018)

Ah man, this thread is going to make me "feels." I have a lot to share about how Bach literally saved my life back in 2009, but it will have to wait until tommorow. I'll be Bach.


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## CT (Jun 6, 2018)

This could be the best VI-Control thread ever! You can get *almost* everything you need from Bach. I have too many favorites to share; I'll have to pace myself.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 6, 2018)

miket said:


> This could be the best VI-Control thread ever! You can get *almost* everything you need from Bach. I have too many favorites to share; I'll have to pace myself.


Looking forward to it! My ulterior motive in starting it is my own education (and enjoyment)!


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## CT (Jun 6, 2018)

Just to start, here's one that's been on my mind a lot lately.


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## AR (Jun 6, 2018)

The Aire is like a Standard Repertoire for Walking Bass playing. And that's 300 years old!!! What??????!!!!!


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## AR (Jun 6, 2018)

And when I'm in the mood I'm hearing this version on heavy rotation in my car (extra loud)


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 6, 2018)

@miket Gould might've had a decent career as a singer if the whole piano thing hadn't worked out! I love his commentary. I noticed how he slides and vibrates on the keys at the end, would've been interesting to hear him play Bach on a Roli Seaboard.

@AR Purists might object to the orchestral version of the Chaconne, but I think it's really interesting to hear how a piece written for solo violin translates to a full orchestra so majestically. I hope the more fleshed out harmony might also provide a way into the solo violin version for people who have a harder time enjoying that. My dad and I used to go to concerts at Boston Symphony Hall when I was a teenager (not so long ago really and he is still with us), but this brought back some cherished memories, thank you.


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## Markus Kohlprath (Jun 6, 2018)

@AR Purists might object to the orchestral version of the Chaconne .[/QUOTE]
One of the many interesting things in Bach’s music is that it almost always develops it’s magic regardless of the instrument it is played on. A lot of it is perfectly transferable to a phone ringing tone or to a big orchestra and anything in between. And you always think “wow that sounds great”.


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## AR (Jun 6, 2018)

Jeremy Gillam said:


> @miket Gould might've had a decent career as a singer if the whole piano thing hadn't worked out! I love his commentary. I noticed how he slides and vibrates on the keys at the end, would've been interesting to hear him play Bach on a Roli Seaboard.
> 
> @AR Purists might object to the orchestral version of the Chaconne, but I think it's really interesting to hear how a piece written for solo violin translates to a full orchestra so majestically. I hope the more fleshed out harmony might also provide a way into the solo violin version for people who have a harder time enjoying that. My dad and I used to go to concerts at Boston Symphony Hall when I was a teenager (not so long ago really and he is still with us), but this brought back some cherished memories, thank you.


You're welcome 
I also played the Segovia transcription for guitar, which seems nice therefore hence the long arpeggio part in the middle and the 4voice chords at the beginning which are unable to play on a violin without to arpeggiate.


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 6, 2018)

Almost every string player I ever worked with said Grumiuax's recording of the Partitas where the best ever, who am I to argue...


Papa Bach is surely the ultimate perfect marriage of intellect and technique which combine powerfully to create profoundly expressive music - music ultimately from his soul. His counterpoint is sometimes seemingly unburdened by harmony and yet conforms and his harmony is often undaunted. If you disagree, I'll see you outside right now.....
naahh..just joking, but I do like his music an awful lot.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 7, 2018)

AR said:


> You're welcome
> I also played the Segovia transcription for guitar, which seems nice therefore hence the long arpeggio part in the middle and the 4voice chords at the beginning which are unable to play on a violin without to arpeggiate.


 
Lovely!


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## Uncle Peter (Jun 7, 2018)

WTC Book 1 - Schiff


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## tmhuud (Jun 7, 2018)

Best thread ever. Cant list any works as the list would be too long. But this is a great read for JS Bach fans.


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## patrick76 (Jun 7, 2018)

Jeremy Gillam said:


> Last year I interned at a composer studio and was surprised to learn that many of my youthful colleagues did not enjoy the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. "We can appreciate them on an intellectual level" was the refrain, "but we don't enjoy them." "What is wrong with kids these days?" thought I, but upon reflection it occurred to me that perhaps these young maestros never had a violin teacher like mine, who often exclaimed that Bach was "the rock 'n' roller of his day" between admonishments of "chin up, chin up!"
> 
> So I wanted to create a thread here on VI-CONTROL where those who already love Bach's works can share their favorite pieces, performances, and recordings, and where those who haven't yet found a pathway to enjoyment of the godfather of modern music's brilliance might be initiated into this pleasure.
> 
> Let me get things started with a few I keep in heavy rotation...




There's something seriously wrong with them! Bach has so many brilliant works. Here is one I have always been fond of-


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## antonyb (Jun 7, 2018)

miket said:


> This could be the best VI-Control thread ever! You can get *almost* everything you need from Bach. I have too many favorites to share; I'll have to pace myself.


I love what Max Richter says when asked about his favorite composer: "when people ask you that question, what they really mean is who is your favorite composer besides Bach

Looking for the reference... here!



If somebody says, "Well, what are your favorite composers?" really what they are saying is, "What are your favorite composers apart from Bach?" Because obviously Bach is your favorite composer if you are involved in music at all.​


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## foxby (Jun 7, 2018)

Sublime work and amazing interpretation,

47:37 Cum Sancto Spiritu ( what a tempo !!)



Not Brook but Ocean should be his name.

- Ludwig Van Beethoven ("Bach" is the German word for "brook")

Now there is music from which a man can learn something.

- W. A. Mozart (on hearing Bach motets in Leipzig)


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## PaulBrimstone (Jun 7, 2018)

@AR Purists might object to the orchestral version of the Chaconne, but I think it's really interesting to hear how a piece written for solo violin translates to a full orchestra so majestically. I hope the more fleshed out harmony might also provide a way into the solo violin version for people who have a harder time enjoying that. My dad and I used to go to concerts at Boston Symphony Hall when I was a teenager (not so long ago really and he is still with us), but this brought back some cherished memories, thank you.[/QUOTE]

Apologies, as I've posted this before, but I'm particularly partial to the Eroica Trio’s rendition of the Chaconne—another fine example of its ability to transition to new arrangements and modern styles. This arrangement is by good old Anne Dudley and really packs a punch as it builds. Please ignore the dreadful YouTube cover art!


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## Uncle Peter (Jun 7, 2018)

Jeremy Gillam said:


> Last year I interned at a composer studio and was surprised to learn that many of my youthful colleagues did not enjoy the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. "We can appreciate them on an intellectual level" was the refrain, "but we don't enjoy them." "What is wrong with kids these days?"



It's a mystery, the music is unbelievably good...

But then I really don't get some other master composers, such as Mahler.. After numerous attempts to listen, I've always lost interest after 10 seconds. It just doesn't move in the right way for me.

I have a 4 month old daughter - Classic Fm was on the radio the other day and she was screaming her lungs out to various tunes. Then on came 'Air' and she was instantly quiet and just listened. Magic


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## YaniDee (Jun 7, 2018)

This man would compose a 20-45 minute cantata, write out the parts, rehearse the musicians and give a new performance every week!..each one could be the subject of endless theoretical study, besides it's beauty.
People who don't appreciate Bach are clueless..


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## Virtual Virgin (Jun 7, 2018)

My take is that Bach seems like such an orthodoxy that some have to rebel against it without any deep inquiry, but as a knee-jerk reaction to being told they are supposed to like it. I also think some don't like to be humbled to the extent that Bach will make you feel once you "realize". Such towering accomplishments as his can make you feel quite small so I think some shut him out as a defense mechanism. I tend to think of appreciation for him as a true test for a musician vs. a non-musician. There is just far too much to learn from his work. It's like living next door to a library or museum and never setting foot in it. 

Here's my fav:


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## CT (Jun 7, 2018)

I don't see how you could even force yourself to rebel against Bach; it must take a ton of effort!

I can understand being kind of ambivalent about some of the other big names that you're almost required to revere from the period between Bach and Mahler, but you just can't ignore this guy.


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## AR (Jun 7, 2018)

YaniDee said:


> This man would compose a 20-45 minute cantata, write out the parts, rehearse the musicians and give a new performance every week!..each one could be the subject of endless theoretical study, besides it's beauty.
> People who don't appreciate Bach are clueless..



It's not only that. I come to the conclusion while playing his music, that he was a Jammer. If he was in the mood he took a violin and if not, he took the luth. Changing instruments, trying out new instruments, new tunings, experimenting, rewriting his own compositions, giving different performances every time. A true FULL-BLOOD-MUSICIAN. 

I think people who don't understand Bach are not so deep into complex music. It's like reading an difficult book. Plus, many musicians hate to play Bach, cause you have to take out all your ego while playing and still you have rehearse every passage again and again to reach the virtuosity. Somewhat ironic??

Picasso put it better: It took me 4 years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child. 

Same goes for Bach.


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## Vik (Jun 8, 2018)

AR said:


> It took me 4 years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.


I like it.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 8, 2018)




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## Vik (Jun 8, 2018)

Here's a favourite:
https://itunes.apple.com/no/album/komm-sußer-tod-bwv-478-arr-leopold-stokowski/157913709?i=157913761


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## Markus Kohlprath (Jun 8, 2018)

[QUOTE="Virtual Virgin, post: 4241201, member: 15178”
Here's my fav:
[/QUOTE]
This is gorgeous! Unbelievable good


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## tmhuud (Jun 8, 2018)

Jeremy Gillam said:


>




One of my favorites on YouTube.


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## tmhuud (Jun 8, 2018)

@Jeremy Gillam , Which performance of the Golberg Variations do you prefer of Gould’s, the ‘55’s or 81’s?


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## Parsifal666 (Jun 8, 2018)

When I was very young I thought Bach was a little calculated and scholastic. Then someone played me this and I heard how dumb I was. A fantastically expressive piece of music (and supernaturally amazing player):


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## re-peat (Jun 8, 2018)

My favourite Goldberg (performed on a modern piano, that is) — and I collect Goldbergs like crazy — is *David Jalbert*, on Atma Records. Perfect performance, I find. (I’m not a Glenn Gould fan, I must confess. Not at all.)

And my favourite Goldberg transcription (for string orchestra) — also one of my all time favourite Bach recordings _tout court_ and even a desert island disc for me — is by *Bernard Labadie* and his *Les Violons Du Roi*, released on Dorian Records. Sublime. (Labadie also transcribed and recorded Die Kunst Der Fuge, but for some reason, that didn't come out quite as well. To my ears anyway.)

Undisputably outstanding (in my opinion, at least): *Igor Levit *(on Sony) in the 6 keyboard partitas (also great in the Goldberg Variations), *András Shiff* performing Das Wohltemperierte Clavier (on ECM), *Amandine Beyer & Gli Incogniti* in the violin concertos (on Zig-Zag Territoires), *Hopkinson Smith* in the Suites For Lute (on Naïve Records), *Piotr Anderszewski* in the English Suites (on Warner). And my preferred version of the harpsichord concertos is still *Hogwood, conducting the Academy of Ancient Music with Christophe Rousset* as soloist (on L'Oiseau-Lyre). Another great Bach performer: *Zhu Xiao-Mei*. Try the French Suites (Accentus Music).

Pity *Ivo Pogorelich* hasn’t recorded more Bach.

Tried many recordings of the Cello Suites (from Pierre Fournier and Maurice Gendron upwards to the present day), and I always end up with *Pieter Wispelwey*’s 1998 recording on Channel Classics. Maybe not the definitive version, but certainly very, very good.

For the Viola da gamba Sonatas: *Zipperling and Bauer* (on Aeolus). Second choice: *Leonhardt and Kuijken* (on Harmonia Mundi).

A very good H-moll Messe — all still mere personal opinion, obviously — is the one by the *Freiburger Barockorchester*, conducted by *Thomas Hengelbrock*. And of the 11 or so recordings of the Brandenburg Concertos I have, the one by the *Akademie für alte Musik Berlin* is the one I listen to most often. Both of these are on Harmonia Mundi.

In the Matthäus Passion, Harnoncourt remains a strong contender, but here too, I prefer Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, conducted by *René Jacobs* (again Harmonia Mundi). And there’s no way around *Masaaka Suzuki* and the *Bach Collegium Japan* in their recordings of the cantata’s (on BIS Records) of course.

_


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## SergeD (Jun 8, 2018)

It's unfortunate that Bach never thanked Vivaldi for giving him so much inspiration, or did he?


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## DivingInSpace (Jun 8, 2018)

I actually did a Electronic Remix/cover of Bach's Fugue in Cm back when I first started out, as a part of a university class. The mixing is terrible though, but playing around with this masterpiece with synths was great!


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 8, 2018)

_"People who don't appreciate Bach are clueless.."_

I wouldn't go that far personally Yani, because an individuals aesthetics plays a big part, but I understand the sentiment. If anyone spends a good few years learning how to write fugues and mastering double and triple counterpoint then they'll gain technical insight into what is involved, especially when attempting to turn exercises into decent music. Then appreciation of Bach goes through the roof. I still marvel at the perfect marriage in his work of intellect, inspiration, technical brilliance and above all, sublime music.


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## Virtual Virgin (Jun 8, 2018)

mikeh-375 said:


> _"People who don't appreciate Bach are clueless.."_
> 
> I wouldn't go that far personally Yani, because an individuals aesthetics plays a big part, but I understand the sentiment.



You could also refer to the preference of having arms and legs over not having them as an "aesthetic" choice if you wish.


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 8, 2018)

I'm not understanding that VV...I thought arms and legs et al where evolutionary choices.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 8, 2018)

tmhuud said:


> @Jeremy Gillam , Which performance of the Golberg Variations do you prefer of Gould’s, the ‘55’s or 81’s?


I will have to do my homework and get back to you! Which do you prefer? Or perhaps I should put it differently -- what about each do you find interesting or striking?


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## sostenuto (Jun 8, 2018)

My heavily-enjoyed 'Bach Playlist' is Goldberg Variations featuring both Glenn Gould and Simone Dinnerstein.

It never ceases to amaze and impress !


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## Vik (Jun 8, 2018)

tmhuud said:


> @Jeremy Gillam , Which performance of the Golberg Variations do you prefer of Gould’s, the ‘55’s or 81’s?


I think you’ll have a hard time finding anyone who prefers the 55 version.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 8, 2018)

The '81 versions seem a little more refined to me and the higher fidelity recordings are nice too. Interesting how you can hear him vocalizing as he plays in both renditions!


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## tmhuud (Jun 8, 2018)

Yes, I agree. The ‘81 recordings are obviously of a more mature Gould and have a certain dignity about them. (Not sure how else to say it) where his ‘55 is very energetic but a bit to sporadic for my taste.

[EDIT/side note] I took a Masterclass on JS Bach with Robert Greenberg in San Francisco. I think the transcripts exist and I think it’s also on Audible somewhere. It’s a truly great MC. But there’s a section where Gould is talking and honestly Robert has to take sentence by sentence and translate what it is (he thinks!) Gould meant. It’s very enlightening! Highly recommended.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 8, 2018)

Chin up Janine!


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## teclark7 (Jun 8, 2018)

I love a lot of Bach but current favourite recordings to listen to are:

1. Andres Scholl signing Erbame dich from St Matthews Passion:



and

2. Kempff (1975) playing his piano transcription of Herzlich tut mich verlangen BWV 727


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## ptram (Jun 9, 2018)

I love Bach! I appreciate his career as a soloist, but I admit that I didn't follow him when playing in the band with Telemann and Haendel!

Paolo


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## Brian2112 (Jun 9, 2018)

Famous Greek mathematicians use to think that God was a mathematician and that music was a subset of math. As we all know, Bach proved the morons were exactly wrong. God is a composer and math is a subset of music.
Chew on that Michio Kaku!

*completely unbiased opinion as I am an atheist anyway.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 9, 2018)

I saw a comment on YouTube once that was something like: "First there was the music of Bach, and then there was God."


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 9, 2018)

Recent Bach purchase for me was the Art of Fugue played by Angela Hewitt with such repose and poise, complete with a musical intelligence to match what is surely a pinnacle in western music.
We might have lost him to a sword fight when he was younger if it hadn't been prevented at the last minute. Apparently Bach had impugned the bassoonist Geyersbach's abilities and as tempers rose, he called Bach a 'dirty dog; and lashed his face with a stick. Bach drew his sword but the scrap was halted by another student....jeez students eh?
This one sounds apocryphal though..."He was so fond of full harmony that, besides a constant and active use of pedals, he is said to have put down such keys by a stick in his mouth, as neither hands nor feet could reach"


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## ptram (Jun 10, 2018)

Jeremy Gillam said:


> I saw a comment on YouTube once that was something like: "First there was the music of Bach, and then there was God."


Mauricio Kagel: "Not every musician believes in God, but all of them believe in Bach".

Paolo


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## tmhuud (Jun 10, 2018)

Kempff’s (1975) performing “Herzlich tut mich verlangen” BWV 727 was really heartfelt. I’ve always loved his interpretations. Thanks for finding that.


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## rottoy (Jun 10, 2018)

Who? Is he the guy on the Bach of the cereal packets?


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 10, 2018)

......terrible.....


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## Divico (Jun 10, 2018)




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## Vik (Jun 10, 2018)

Vik said:


> Here's a favourite:
> https://itunes.apple.com/no/album/komm-sußer-tod-bwv-478-arr-leopold-stokowski/157913709?i=157913761


And here's another one, played by the great Alfred Brendel:


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## AR (Jun 10, 2018)

Who's needs a bass, when you have an Octo?


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 10, 2018)

Even Joshua Bell's $10 million Strad sounds a bit crap without any reverb but it's still fun to watch him play...


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## CT (Jun 10, 2018)

douggibson said:


> Just reading through here.
> 
> You know what might also be worthwhile..... is the art he inspired in others.



I love these Respighi orchestrations!


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## JohnG (Jun 11, 2018)

douggibson said:


> Also listening to these, Bach can come across as Uber romantic.
> 
> Thats what is so fascinating to me. How many ways you can interpret his work, and it sounds convincing.
> Even when they are on polar opposites of the aesthetic spectrum.



I agree Doug. I think the reason for this that Bach's "pure" musical style differs from most media music. Taken over the last, say, 30 years, a good bit of media music latches on to instantly-recognisable emotional associations to do its thing.

There is certainly minimalist or other music in media that avoids that kind of thing. Tom Newman avoids it a lot, as does Philip Glass to a great extent, but a lot of producers / directors / etc. want music that unambiguously leads an audience into a particular "place."

Sometimes that's fine, sometimes it's like an elbow digging in one's ribs saying, "wow! huge!" or "aww, sad" or "here we go." Depending on the movie that can be intrusive or kind of fun.

Maybe the most obvious example is advertising and trailer music? In which typically there is intention from the first note -- conveying time, setting, genre, emotion. It can be done subtly and well, or ham-fistedly, but the intention is usually obvious instantly.

Bach, when set to picture, doesn't really do that unless, I guess, the performance pushes hard in one direction or another. It can simply "be" and allow the viewer to decide what it means.


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 11, 2018)

John....please, some decorum. Bach and movies? Oh dear....... Although seeing that he considered his music to be a utility, perhaps he wouldn't have minded and besides, all those mouths to feed.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 11, 2018)

JohnG said:


> Bach, when set to picture, doesn't really do that unless, I guess, the performance pushes hard in one direction or another. It can simply "be" and allow the viewer to decide what it means.



I think John has some fantastic observations and his quote above might hint at why some of my media composer friends are not as excited about Bach as they are other composers. For myself, the pleasure I take from listening to much of Bach's work is more akin to that which I take from listening to great pop music than to say, Elgar's cello concerto or a great Morricone score that transports you into another world, another time and place. Bach's use of structure, repetition, slight deviations and surprises, to me seem more aimed at the dopamine receptors in the brain than at the heart strings. Which is not to say I don't find his music to be incredibly moving -- I do. It's just a different emotional experience than a lot of film music.

It seems to me some of the emotional ambiguity found in Bach's music might have renewed significance for the more forward-thinking directors and composers who are trying to get away from telegraphing the plot and emotional beats of the story, and instead create a marriage of music and images that leaves room for each audience member to have their own experience.


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 11, 2018)

Thanks for your thoughts @douggibson. I might add that I was mostly thinking of his concerti in my comparison to pop music. I am very unqualified to speak on this topic really so I will shut up and leave the conversation to people who actually know what they're talking about! I'm really enjoying everyone's posts and learning so much. Off to listen to the Mass in B minor now...


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## CT (Jun 11, 2018)

I hope I can visit him there someday, too. Thanks for sharing those pictures.


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## Vik (Jun 12, 2018)

Another favourite - on marimba:
https://itunes.apple.com/no/album/f...t-und-wunden-bwv-244-62/467547619?i=467547658


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## Vik (Jun 12, 2018)

And here's a short one which I can't help but pushing on some of my piano students, BWV 999:
https://itunes.apple.com/no/album/präludium-in-c-minor-bwv-999/424842480?i=424842609


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 12, 2018)

I don’t subscribe to the idea of emotional ambiguity in Bach neither. I feel his is a refined expression, rarified if you like, or perhaps pure. It might be ambiguous out of context in a Marvel feature unless it is digetic because Iron man chills to Bach, but in the high art of absolute and text driven concert music, there is no doubting its profound emotional utterance, at least to me.
Btw, that B min. Mass is great, but it’s useless to dance to.


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## JohnG (Jun 12, 2018)

douggibson said:


> I wouldn't go too far with this idea of Bach being an "emotionally ambiguous" composer.



I hear what you're saying but it's always a matter of degree, so I stand by my view that Bach composed relatively "pure" music. 

I sing in a choir every week and we perform quite a lot of Bach, so I've had a lot of time with what, for Bach, would be quite powerfully emotional, including the Passions and the Bm Mass

However, as I started off here, it's a matter of degree and intention. Compared to the sentimental pandering (I know that sounds mean but whatever) of much media music, Bach's material is less specific, even when it's emotional and powerful. It can be moving even if it's just an instrumental version of a cantata or some other vocal piece, but it's less emotionally specific than much of media music.

Put another way, a fair amount of film and other media music practically digs its elbow into the viewer's ribs, saying "see? it's a SAD scene; it's a HAPPY MOMENT" and so on. By no means all media music, but enough of it.

So what I'm getting at is that Bach doesn't point nearly so specifically to a canned emotion. It may elevate one's emotional experience, even create the feeling of joy or tragedy, but it goes about it in a totally different way than a good bit of what's on our screens today.

Again, not everyone does that in media. Michael Nyman has never done it as far as I am aware, and quite a bit of Tom Newman's and Philip Glass' music avoids that trap, and I'm sure I'm neglecting others as well.


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## Uncle Peter (Jun 12, 2018)

douggibson said:


> Bach had one of the greatest minds in the history of mankind. Period. Stunning. The more you dig the more is revealed. I think what you are referring to is that the "structural integrity" of the work is never compromised.



Hear, hear - I second that.

I made the pilgrimage last year and took the missus with me. I spent an afternoon in the Bach Museum and was struck by the intensity of his training from a young age. The exercises that his eldest brother set him were intense; numbers were scrawled everywhere and he solved many a musical puzzle (counterpoint exercises).

Obligatory picture..






The Bach dynasty of composers and musicians is well documented of course and it struck me that Johann Sebastian was really almost the product of an intense musical breeding experiment. Much like you breed sausage dogs.. ;D
That's not to take anything away from his immense work ethic and pure sublime talent. But that talent was seemingly written into his DNA by his forefathers/mothers, most of whom were involved in music in one way or another.

Also.. the zoo in Leipzig is fantastic.


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## Rodney Money (Jun 14, 2018)

I am going to share way too much, but in all honesty, I feel the need to do so in honor of Bach. I am the youngest of 4 children where I am 6 years younger than my sibling next to me in age, so when my mother passed away of cancer when I was only 10 years-old my siblings where basically almost grown at 16, 18, and 20 leaving me alone in the house when my father remarried when I turned 14. Without going into details although we are great now, my relationship with my stepmother growing up was estrange causing me to be very independent dreaming of the day I left home to major in music at college. My father had to travel for work sometimes weeks at a time, so to calm my mind, my growing internal “Quiet Anger,” and to find hope I would listen to Fredrick Fennel conducting the wind ensemble version of Bach’s “Fantasia in G” every night before resting my head to sleep.

In my senior year “Fantasia in G” just so happen to be among the choices of compositions we could choose for our final conducting exam. As I addressed the ensemble with my personal history of this piece they could tell that I was not even thinking of my final grade, but more focus on giving homage to Bach for giving me light out of the darkness. After class the piccolo player came up to me and said he could tell that I was passionate about this piece in the way that I was conducting, and he said because of that he and the rest of the ensemble felt compelled to play passionately also.

Not only fulfilling dreams while in college I met what I thought was the love of my life, but after 5 years of marriage and 10 years of being together my heart was broken after we devoiced. I’ve never said this before to anyone, but the night she left was the first time I ever thought about taking my own life. I mourned the death of my marriage by lying on the bed in the guest bedroom listening to Leopold Stokowski’s orchestral arrangement of “Chaconne.” Pausing the CD after the piece concluded, I looked up when Bach composed the work discovering it coincided with the death of Bach’s first wife, and I also found out that Bach later married his 2nd wife just under 2 years knowing that life must go on. The CD player just happened to be on shuffle at the time and Bach’s “Aria” or “Air on the G String” beautifully filled the room cleansing my heart of sorrow. Then, I heard a voice in my head saying, “Your wife is dead, move on, you have work to do,” and just under 2 short years later I met my 2nd wife just like Bach. When our daughter was born a few years later Liz asked me what I wanted to name the baby, and I said, “Aria."

Since I was a teenager, Bach and his music have been there for me teaching me composition, technique, pushing me to be a better musician, a better person, giving me hope, and literally saving my life freeing me from despair. I was asked just last week to be a featured guest artist, performing on flugelhorn and possibly cornet, in a series of performances. As the director asked me what I wanted to perform while being accompanied by pipe organ, a smile on my face answered, Bach’s “Fantasia in G.”


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 14, 2018)

Thank you for sharing your story @Rodney Money. Not only is it a beautiful example of the power of Bach's work, but also a wonderful reminder of the importance of of music and its ability to truly change - and save - people's lives.


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## tmhuud (Jun 15, 2018)

That was an amazing story Rodney. Very heartfelt.

You have to remember that Bach and just about everyone living in those times was surrounded by death and dying all the time. And yet to think what the man accomplished in his lifetime is staggering. He fathered 20 children over his lifetime, and ONLY ten survived through to adulthood! To lose a child is one of the most horrific things a parent can endure, let alone TEN!

Even Bach's wife, Maria Barbara's death was sudden and unexpected. Bach was at the Carlsbad spa with Prince Leopold when she died. When Bach left Köthen, she was in perfectly good health but when he returned two months later, he literally walked into his house to find she was already BURIED.

I found the class I attended on Audible. I really recommend this if your into JSB. It is really about the human being and what it was like to be alive during those times. And the music that accompanies it is devine.

https://www.audible.com/search?searchNarrator=Professor+Robert+Greenberg

Its "Bach and the High Baroque".


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## Jeremy Gillam (Jun 15, 2018)

Here's an article about Bachfest Leipzig that includes an embedded "Best Cantatas" Spotify playlist:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/...?action=click&module=Features&pgtype=Homepage


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## MarcusD (Jun 16, 2018)

Bach's music will always be dear to my heart. Some of my earliest memories are of pretending to perform Toccata and Fugue on an old electric keyboard which my father randomley bought from a car boot sale (for those across the pond, its a yard sale in a field with lots of people also selling stuff). The keyboard had a selection of songs which it could play. Turned out that Bach was my favorite, yet I was not old enough to understand or know who composed it. When I was older, I heard the song again being played on the radio and from there found Bach again.


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 16, 2018)

Marcus,
Speaking of the Toccata, my hands went into make-up at Pinewood Studios once and I had to wear a victorian shirt with frilly cuffs because they where the stunt hands for Captain Nemo in '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' as he played the toccata on his big organ in the submarine (no, not a euphemism). I just fingered a dummy (no....NOT a euphemism..) err, keyboard to an existing recording whilst they filmed. As an aside, the director was Michael Anderson who did the Dam Busters among others. I had to practice the whole damn piece to be certain I wouldn't get caught out and in the end they just used, well you can guess what bit, for a few seconds...bloody films.


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## MarcusD (Jun 16, 2018)

mikeh-375 said:


> Marcus,
> Speaking of the Toccata, my hands went into make-up at Pinewood Studios once and I had to wear a victorian shirt with frilly cuffs because they where the stunt hands for Captain Nemo in '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' as he played the toccata on his big organ in the submarine (no, not a euphemism). I just fingered a dummy (no....NOT a euphemism..) err, keyboard to an existing recording whilst they filmed. As an aside, the director was Michael Anderson who did the Dam Busters among others. I had to practice the whole damn piece to be certain I wouldn't get caught out and in the end they just used, well you can guess what bit, for a few seconds...bloody films.



 That's bloody brilliant! Typical thing to happen. You work so hard, spend ages stressing about perfecting a performance and then...


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