Bach

[Carol Baynes]

Nothing compares...just listening to him now after coming in from a few drinks in town. But I listen to this gorgeous sound whenever my soul needs 'recharging'. Only the music of the masters can do that....trust me.

I'm playing 'Toccata And Fugue in D Minor' and it's so beuatiful it makes me yearn for things you can't imagine...like most great music.

But this IS great music. Sound put to it's most wonderful use.

I'll comment more later, but feel free to add your comments.

[Jon Masters]

I so agree Carol - many music critics diss Bach because he doesn't use the freedom of expression and experimentation that later composers used, simply because he wrote at a time when the structure of 'good' music was expected to follow a strict set of guidelines. For me its the opposite - the fact that he managed to produce such wonderful and varied music while STILL following those rules makes him far better in my eyes that those who could do almost whatever they liked.

True, its easy to get it wrong (e.g. Vivaldi, to me, has a tendency to sound a bit samey), but not so with Bach. The only downside for me is I'm not a big fan of organ music which cuts down his repertoire quite a lot !

[Wayne]

Nice to know Carol still dabbles with the classics.

I so agree Carol - many music critics diss Bach because he doesn't use the freedom of expression and experimentation that later composers used, simply because he wrote at a time when the structure of 'good' music was expected to follow a strict set of guidelines. For me its the opposite - the fact that he managed to produce such wonderful and varied music while STILL following those rules makes him far better in my eyes that those who could do almost whatever they liked.

From a technical standpoint, i might agree with you Jon. What a fantastic mind he must've had to've come up with some of the stuff that he did!
However, in spite of being able to appreciate his absolute mastery, Bach is not high on my list of favourite composers, largely because i don't find him very emotive. I speak not as an expert though, because i'm sure there's much of his work that i haven't heard, but he doesn't reach into my soul like Beethoven does. He will always be my master. My overall preference in terms of the development of classical tends to lean towards the 'Romantic' era, & i often find myself listening to slightly more minimalist work from the likes of Debussy.
However, i do have a particular liking for Bach's 'Goldberg Variations'.

We should have a generic 'classical' thread!

[Jon Masters]

I'd agree that Beethoven is a master for the big full on orcehstral pieces - his overtures and symphonies are works of power and emotion that suck you in and sweep you along. But I've always found his chamber music a bit blaaaah - nothing wrong with it, but nothing for me to really excited about. Bach's chamber music OTOH is always a jewel of joy (and his offsrping did a pretty good job too). You might want to give some of his choral music a try Wayne - that's where he switches from technical wizardry to real heart-tugging emotion.

(oh, and if we want an edge of controversy I've always found Mozart - outside of his operas - to be vaaaaaaasstly overated )

[Captain Tancredi]

One of these days I'm going to follow Bach's church music in the cycles for which it was written. And another one of these days I do want to go to the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, which is where he wrote, conducted and performed it.

Not liking organ music needn't be an obstacle to appreciating Bach; he wrote plenty of choral and chamber music (although the Brandenburg Concertos were unknown until the early 20th century) as well as the Passions and oratorios. The Toccata and Fugue in D minor has also been orchestrated on several occasions (such as Stokowski's take in 'Fantasia'), as have the Goldberg Variations- and Glenn Gould's take on those is another thing entirely. A Mexican friend at university once said that the great thing about Bach's music is that it gets inside you- somehow there's a truth in there which makes his best music a perfect abstract statement. Beethoven is too unsettling for me to listen to much at a time- if I have one of the symphonies on my iPod of a morning I inevitably get to work all angsty. And much of Mozart is musical wallpaper precisely because he wrote music to be performed in the background at civilised gatherings.

My favourites are a bit odd, though- Brahms, Sibelius, Copland... not really the sort of thing you can listen to every day.

[Wayne]

as have the Goldberg Variations- and Glenn Gould's take on those is another thing entirely.

That's the only version i have! My fellow band mate lent it to me, & i took to it since then. I've never heard any other versions.

I'm not overly impressed with Mozart either, But again, i bet i've only heard the most well known bits pieces of his output, so i'm probably not qualified to judge.
Brahms, i like what i've heard, which again isn't a lot, but i love the 'Hungarian Dances'.
Sibelius, i've only got Symphony No.5, which i like, & Copland, i don't know at all.

Ian will remember me asking him about Holst when we last met in London. A discussion which i found very informative. I've loved 'The Planets' ever since i was a child, & i went through several versions on CD before i eventually found the same version that my Mum had on LP which i listened to a lot as a kid, & still do! (Sir Adrian Boult/London Philharmonic)
I had the misfortune to meet a real snobby hardcore classical buff once, who immediately turned his nose up at it. I got the impression that it was because of it's relative popularity, (in England, anyway) But i love it. It's absolutely primal stuff!
Mahler is another favourite who's work i really should investigate more, as i've only his 1st & 5th symphonies, & i'm also partial to some choral stuff. I've got a lovely double CD of Thomas Tallis, but i'm especially fond of John Tavener. That's a CD i play a lot.
What i've probably got most of in my relatively small classical collection though, is solo piano work, which is probably my favourite overall thing. I've got a lot of collections of Preludes & Nocturnes & the like by Chopin, Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, & Rachmaninov mostly, & also some by Gabriel Faur & Erik Satie.

[Dirk Gently]

Bach was a brilliant & prolific composer. This link will give you some idea of just how much stuff there is that is attributed to J.S.Bach.

Personally I love his organ stuff* & in particular his Toccata & Fugue in D minor. Great with the volume up.




*No smutty comments.

[Dirk Gently]

And so by the inspiration of this thread I'm now listening to J.S Bach The Organ Works as keyed by Werner Jacob.

Its only 16 CD's to listen to which roughly works out at about 18 1/2hours of throbbing organ.

[Captain Tancredi]

If I were you I'd break that up with something orchestral, like the Musical Offering or the Art of Fugue, or possibly a couple of the cantatas. It's a little like the summer of my A-levels, when I read all of Jane Austen over a period of about a month- by the end of the process you're so familiar with the style it stops being special.