Considering Bach invented the circle of fifths, inventing our modern sense of tonality, the modern, greedy, music industry insistence on having a specif progression of chords is Satanic.
@@tedphillips2501 This is not so. Cycles of fifths can be found in Baroque composers 100 years before Bach. While his voice is definitive in what we could call "the modern sense of tonality", it is a stretch to say he "invented it" (try Gesualdo and Marenzio 100 years before him, who didn't "invent it" either.). Fischer's _Ariadne Musica_, with a tonal cycle of keys like the WTC, preceded the latter by decades. Bach is my favorite composer and my life's study, so I'm not trying to minimize his work, but these are hyperbolic overstatements that don't pass the truth test.
Earlier this afternoon, I watched a very good video on the Music Matters channel that spends over 15 minutes talking about four measures of a single Bach chorale harmonization. Richard Atkinson has some great analyses, too. He did a great video on Beethoven's Grosse Fuge and all the head-spinning rhythmic metamorphoses the themes go through from one section to the next.
When eminent biologist and author Lewis Thomas was asked what message he would choose to send from Earth into outer space in the Voyager spacecraft, he answered, "I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach." After a pause, he added, "But that would be boasting."
Bach only has respect because of the time period. There are 100 musicians alive today that blow him away but no one cares because of the age of social media
@@johnwiz4460 and all of those 100 musicians stand on Bach’s shoulders!! In his music is the building blocks of just about all modern music, even jazz. He was doing cycles of ii-7-V7s (or even ii1/2dim7-V7 in minor keys) through different keys a couple of hundred years before any jazz musician.
@@johnwiz4460 Bach only has respect because of the time period? Personally, I don't give a monkey's about the time period. I do care about the music though, which is sublime.
The best of Bach's compositions always make me feel like walking into a room where 100 people are having 50 different conversations, but all of them are circling around a central theme, and as you walk through, so that different conversations come to the fore while others recede into the back, you find that they all fit together perfectly like the most amazing clockwork you can imagine.
@@kelownapianoconsult5354 You're quite right on this ! The influence of Bach (both, JS and CPE ) on Mozart is often overestimated. Mozart was first introduced to their music in 1782 by Baron Gottfried van Swieten , who was the head of the library of the emperial court in Vienna and was very fond of the then becoming quite old-fashioned older baroque style of composers like Händel, Hasse, Fasch, Johann Sebastian Bach, Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach . He had good access to their scores thru his contacts to Berlin and Leipzig ! It's reported that Mozart was actually very curious to study the scores Van Swieten presented him and was also quite impressed. And for a period of time he was even inspired to write a series of fugues, but finished only a few of them. So his impression didn't last that long, as he probably found that the form of the fugue was not the most important feature for his style ! Maybe his" Fantasy fo Piano" in d-minor was influenced by CPEB to some extend or his "Piano Sonata" in c-minor, KV 475 ... But in general Mozart's counterpoint technique was more rooted in the Austrian tradition and especially influenced by Johann Josef Fux ( 1660 -1741) , whose textbook for the study of counterpoint "Gradus ad Parnassum" was the unsurpassed standard during the whole 18.century in Vienna and Austria. Even Mozarts most famous fugue compositions , the Finale of his last Symphony or the double-fugue of the "Kyrie" in his "Requiem" , were influenced to a greater extend by that counterpoint style of Fux and other Viennese masters of the time period , more than by the style of North-Germany. If there was a member of the Bach-family, that actually influenced Mozart, then this would be the youngest son of JSB, Johann Christian Bach, "the London Bach". The eight year old Mozarr met him in person during his visit in London, and they would become lifelong friends. And JCB certainly had a greater influence on Mozart in writing his first piano concertos a few years later. For further information on that topic I would recommend for anyone interessted for instance : the biography of Mozart by Stanley Sadie , simply titled "Mozart", released as paperbook by Macmillan Publishers London in 1982.j
How Bach's dominion over sound was complete is something that is beyond conception. His control over harmony and counterpoint is above anyone's else. Palestrina, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner... they all deserve to be on the highest pantheon with Bach, but Johann somehow stands out above those larger than life geniouses. To imagine that he was writing all that perfection in a industrial level, in his busy lifestyle, takes Bach to a level in which he is one of the greatest miracles of mankind. He was a phenomenon, a true force of nature.
@@justinlinkmusic Since he wrote music for God, most often in the church, he is unlikely Lucifer, who rebelled against God. Bach is like the Jesus through music; a channel for the truth of the universe.
Chopin can stand alone from him because that's getting into impressionist music, catching the spirit or story of a person, place, time When done well, that stands alone. Also, makes me think of Monet in the same terms. I like how Monet could do a painting, one could say that it looks nothing like it, but compared to a photographer, it is more accurate in a different way.
The complexity of Bach's music is incredible. Layers on layers on layers of notes, tones and sounds. You can listen to a single composition hundreds of times and still hear something new each time.
I struggle with adhd and my mind is all over the place, listening to Bach brings my mind back to where it can zone in and focus on the music. I am very lucky to be raised on Bach, Beethoven and Mozart knowing many pieces by memory before grade one. Couldn’t play them but could play them in my imagination way back and can still do it. This music has become a part of my dna, and am so lucky that this music will be with me forever.
I find the World has a struggle with my Autism but the music of Bach 'taps' right in deep. I find Glen Gould is a single entity in my brain very rare; not man and piano. this is not common. If you like jazz I would like to offer a suggestion; Ignasi Terraza I absolutly love his sound ((Swit records) A lot on UA-cam including work with Joan 'Chamero's Sant Andreu Jazz School'.
As a classical and jazz guitarist who's been playing for nearly 4 decades, I have to say the music of Bach is the most challenging and rewarding to play. His lute, cello, violin, and keyboard works are sublime whether it's the short perfections of Anna's notebook to his Chaconne in D minor - it's sheer compositional mastery... The melody, harmony, voice leading, counterpoint, ostinato etc., And man did he come centuries before Jazz in his harmonic conceptions and tension resolutions... Just phenomenal. Scarlatti, Telemann, Vivaldi, Handel, Haydyn were all wonderful, but Bach... Astonishing.
He's great. He's great because people said so. And after people champion a product everyone has to repeat the same thing because it's the popular opinion. Most overrated composer in history.
FYI: trolling much? People like Beethoven, . Mozart, Debussy revered Bach. When you and I, FYI, are dust and forgotten, Bach will be played. You know, you're probably an adolescent living in the basement playing mindless video games, thinking comments like the one you made about Bach are so clever. Fyi, they're not. I don't intend to be harsh, but adolescence will pass.
case in point: the very fast version of jesu, joy of man's desiring that was used in the movie boogie nights. It sounds like a classic piece of pop music, but it's Bach
And the tempo markings are normally very vague. There are two "allegro" movements in his flute Sonata in E Minor, but the first one is like 84 to 96 BPM, and the second one is 108 to 120. It's just wild, there's a lot of baroque tempi like that.
Bach’s complete works takes up 154 CDs! I was once told that if you were to hand copy his works, it would take a lifetime. Bach composed (not just copied) and performed all of it, and raised a large family. Just the sheer speed and magnitude are unfathomable.
Bach’s unaccompanied violin works are the foundation for classical violinists. Bach’s keyboard works are foundational for classical pianists. Bach’s chorales are the foundation for music theory & composition. Bach’s well-tempered clavier books are the basis for writing music in 12 keys, and the foundation for all Western music since then. Bach’s cello suites are played by every cellist. He also wrote the mass in B minor, oratorios, the St. John & Matthew Passions, the Brandenburg concertos, orchestral suites, cantatas, the Goldberg variations, 2- and 3-part inventions, numerous organ works, keyboard concertos, violin concertos, and more (fill in the blanks for me). The sheer physical task of writing out the music scores would take the better part of a lifetime (no computer, of course). Even his “worst” works are excellent. Even if you don’t like his music, there’s simply no doubt that he is the most influential Western composer of all time, bar none.
Now this is getting to the heart of the matter (and as mentioned, this doesn't even mention his organ output, which is the definitional basis of all organ study and composition since). Didn't mention 200 (extant) sacred cantatas, either. Nor his explorations into the esoterica of canon and fugues, nor his theological acumen and ability to translate that into music. Rick didn't getinto any of this.
@@BernardGreenberg Actually, I did say “numerous organ works”, and mentioned the cantatas. But, the basic idea remains: he wrote a staggering amount of music, in a huge number of genres, for a vast array of instruments.
I have never met a good musician who was not an admirer of dear old Johann Sebastian. Those who understand music cannot fail to appreciate Bach's great artistry. He is the one who more than anyone else has been able to combine Formal perfection with the greatest aesthetic beauty - it is the archetype of beauty taking sensitive form.
No! As Bach famously said, "If you play the right notes in the right order, they play themselves." More than a million musicians have become better than they ever thought they could be by learning to play Bach pieces that literally play themselves once we have them memorized. Bach makes us NOT play bad. Sucking should never be used as a pejorative. Bach was the FUN FATHER. He did it for his kids.
@@nateschultz8973 I get Newton would be in the running. But I think Bach edges him out. Bach is like a guy who discovered quantum mechanics in his basement while everyone else is dabbling in Newtonian physics.
As a classically trained pianist, I really appreciate you highlighting how fresh Bach is, hundreds of years after his lifetime. I’m inspired by him and by you, as I’m now learning guitar. Thank you!
Every time I open up my copy of Book 1 of the WTK I find myself an hour later completely lost in the majesty of this Magnus Opus!! Thank you Rick so much for this appreciation you present here. After Bach, Western music was never the same.
Years ago in theory class we analyzed some Bach chorales. Each harmony, when sung by itself was a beautiful melody in its own right. Four 'lead' melodies sung together makes you go, How in the world did he think of this?!? Way to go JSB :-O
I love how Bach just hammers down the bass lines, half steps be damned, plowing through every mode and chord possible to make your head scream and your heart burst.
Bach is in my DNA. I still remember how proud I was when as a teenager studying piano and organ I got skilled enough to play the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, including the pedal part. BTW, the Netherlands Bach Society project is amazing, I wish I had UA-cam 40 years ago just to watch that channel!
The genius of Bach lies in the way all those wildly different interpretations sound good. In a dozen years of piano lessons, the hardest thing for me was the Bach fugues. I just couldn't convince my brain and my fingers to think like five people at once!
@@IncredibleGoliath My college professor was an accomplished pianist and he said that the Bach fugues were excellent for developing technique. This seems counter-intuitive, when comparing these works to more technically flashy etudes. But the fine control needed to express multiple voices with two hands and ten fingers carries over to more complex music.
As an organist (and many organists will agree), the Bach trios (especially the sonatas) are the most difficult Bach works to play. Even though each hand gets a line and your feet get a melodic line, keeping everything together is a pain.
I’m a classical musician who came to rock late in life, and I love seeing videos like this. This is what music education should look like. I can’t wait for your Brahms video!
@@tarnopol Off the top of my head: Intermezzo in A Major, Op 118, the first movement of the Second Symphony, and the second movement of the Requiem (Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Grass)
@@tarnopol Listen to his piano concerto # 2, his violin concerto, and his symphonies 2 and 4. They will give you an idea of the beauty of his compositions...
Hey Rick! Just discovered this episode and HAD to watch it to see how you, with all your experience and understanding of music, would attempt to articulate the genius of Bach. Your comments reminded me of an experience I had in my Music Appreciation class at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point back in 1980. The professor was brilliant himself. He would play complex pieces on the piano by famous classical pianists while simultaneously explaining the movements, transitions, trills, and melodic compositions. I was mesmerized by his grasp of music theory, music history, the composers, and especially his passion for music as human expression. He held a Doctorate in Music Theory and knew exactly how to explain everything we were hearing...often with our collective jaws dropped at his masterful playing and eloquence. Then he got to Bach and all bets were off. I remember him starting to explain Bach, going to a transcendent place with eyes wide open and then stammering through feeble attempts to use words to carry us with him to those places. He was frustrated because he could see that he was not succeeding. It was like he was trying to run with lead boots on. He just couldn't do it in spite of his pained efforts. At the end, he simply asked us to trust him that Bach was perhaps the greatest composer that has ever walked the planet and music masters for centuries have failed to get into his head to reverse engineer Bach's work. In the book ""Goedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid", Hofstadter" tried to explain the genius thread between these masters of mathematics, art, and music...and how their respective disciplines converged. But even that couldn't quite transcend to worthy heights. So...stammer and stumble away, dude. Bach is worthy of your attempts! Know that you join the rest of the masters who tried with great difficulty to explain his genius. Bottom line - yes, Pat, compared to Bach, we all suck. But if you succeeded in bring metal heads and other rockers into the Bach fold, you did it well. Keep up the great work! Joe
You may already know that Bach is on the (documentary) "Metal Evolution" family tree at the top of the Pre-Metal root box. Ironic (?) thing is, there was this (alleged) experiment with music and plants by a lady by the name of Retallack. The plants that had baroque played to them flourished, reportedly grew around the speakers; those that were played rock either grew away, died or both. There was also an Italian vintner on "60 Minutes" who played 18th Century music to his crops: "Rock no good-a for grapes. Rock a-no good for people."
Here in Sydney, Australia we have the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra which plays with all period pieces and specialises of course in Bach and many of the Baroque masters. It's always heaven to attend a recital!
The first concert I ever attended was the Brandenburg concertos performed by the Los Angeles philharmonic orchestra in 1963 when I was 5 years old. It was amazing and I have been addicted to Bach ever since.
Absolutely. Beethoven called Bach the “Original Father of Harmony”. Bach’s music is complex, theoretically correct, and yet absolutely beautiful, all at the same time. I went to Vienna a few years ago, and fulfilled one of my lifetime goals of visiting Beethoven’s graves (yes, there are two - the current one in the Zentralfriedhof, where he was moved in the late 1880s, and his original one in the Währinger Ostfriedhof). I also visited the Pasqualati House where he once lived, along with several other sites he was connected to. It was a high point of my life, for sure. I can totally understand how you felt in Leipzig.
Not to be missed that all of his music dedicated to the greater honor and glory of God. Netherlands Bach Society. Fantastic! Yes, your whole life! Thank you Rick. I'm 78 and been stuck on Bach for 60 plus years. So much appreciated your first Bach UA-cam.
Let’s not forget, as a choir master at Weimer, Kothen and Leipzig, he wrote chorales, keyboard and orchestral works during his free time; often having to write chorales the week prior to a debut Sunday performance.
That was the first thing that immediately came to my mind when Rick mentioned one of the initial impressions he had when he went to Leipzig was to notice the beauty of the choir in the church..I was about to pause my video viewing just to make a comment on that.. 🙂
I'm not sure it was his 'free time'... He was contracted to write all of the music for all of the churches. He wrote secular music for a Zimmerman's coffee shop on the church square and I understand it's believed most of this, and his other (small) orchestral music has been lost.
I remember hearing the first Brandenburg Concerto for the first time as a teen and thinking "Why does it sound like the Beatles?". I got it backwards, of course.
Thousands of comments, but in case you see this: Thank you Rick. This is a beautiful beautiful discussion and so so important for musicians. Bach has had a very very heavy impact on my musical life and I'm so glad you're turning musicians onto Bach. Excellent.
Black Midi, Black Country New Road, Flying Lotus, JPEGMAFIA, 100 gecs, Little Simz, Spellling, Porter Robinson, Death Grips, Iglooghost, Xiu Xiu, MGMT, Kero Kero Bonito, Black Dresses... Music never stopped being great.
I was born listening to Bach, my father and grandfather both played piano and organ. They were both big fans of Bach so I grew up listening to them play his pieces. At the time I never appreciated it, but as I've grown older Bach has become more special to me since it brings a familiarity and warm feeling.
Rick I think the Cantatas are literally the soul of Bach. After about 43 years of studying his music and playing it on piano, I believe they are "it." It actually took me a while to discover them and they really are just mind-boggling. Also the beauty of them is immense.
I wrote my dissertation on Bach and the bulk of it was on the cantatas. Once I went in there I couldn’t escape. Too much light shining in the darkness.
His 54th played at the BBC by Glen Gould is utterly mesmerising. Bach uses such limited lines and a simple theme here yet it expands and blossoms into something really quite astonishing. It starts out with a dominant chord which is either 7th or 11th and then it makes me just sink back as it takes over. I want it played at my funeral along with a few Beatles songs. I wonder if we will ever get another classical guy with such skill and majesty or is it the way we consume music today making this impossible?
@@FusicPool That’s yet another amazing aspect of Bach’s music. He wrote completely idiomatically for each instrument, but pieces like this still translate well to other instruments. I mean, you could probably play it on a kazoo it would still sound OK.
I don’t think anyone has surpassed Bach for depth of harmonic exploration, so subtle, so inventive. Bach laid the harmonic foundations of everything in Western music that has come since.
I was introduced to Bach at Penn State in 1989-1990. I took some classes on music history. The professor used the Brandenburg Concertos as an example of music from the Baroque period. I have loved his music ever since.
"The king of music appreciation." I've just read the phrase above in the chat. I could not think of a better way to describe Rick in one single phrase.
My most favorite Bach piece is the Alleluja soprano solo from Cantata BWV 51. The way he matched the trumpet with the soprano voice is spectacular. In fact the entire Canata is a masterpiece.
The sheer devotion to music as a spiritual quest... Bach did it all as a tribute to creator and all of creation. All artists should strive for such purpose in their art.
You are absolutely right. His great work "musical offering" displays this so well. The story behind it is great. The old master Bach of around 65 is requested for a audience with King whoever I don't care the great. A theme is provided for Bach. A wonderful theme. Extremely chromatic. Almost entirely actually. The king with his peons challenges Bach to write a fugue in multiple parts right there on the spot. You need to listen to it to get what I'm trying to say. Not only did he perform a legendary fugue I could spend 10 lifetimes trying to write on the spot... He then decided to use this theme in every absolute possible way in as many voices as possible. I think it was 8 by the end. He inverted it. Mirrored it... It was absolute genius being displayed. It has to date never been even remotely approached in terms of contrapuntal ingenuity. Just sheer unfathomable genius. It brings me to tears sometimes because it's so overwhelming.
I went to Bach's St Matthew Passion at Easter (a typical dutch tradition). With the opening choir tears start streaming down my cheeks, by Erbarme Dich I had an emotional breakdown. There’s something there that touches your core, your real pain or emotions, something profound happening through Bach's music. There no words to discribe it.
There is no more sincere, nor more humble request for forgiveness than "Erbarme Dich", to God if you are a believer, to the person you love most in the world if you are not a believer. Our tears are those of our human condition.
I honestly believe the best door into the Bach universe are his Violin Concertos. They have a lush sound, they have fantastic tunes you could even whistle along to. There's a soloist you can follow and you can cheer for that is not plunking away on a harpsichord or yelling at you with an operatic voice, everybody loves a well played violin. These works are as harmonically rich and musically relevant as anything else the man has ever written. Yet they dont make it quite as hard to the unexperienced listener to enjoy it all. On a different note: I couldnt agree more, 30 minutes of Bach in the morning makes for a better day. Its fuel for the brain and soul alike. Manna from heaven. Start your next morning with some Bach Violin Concerto, is my advice to a better life.
I love your presenting and commenting on various interpretations of Bach's music by some great musicians. Thank you for recommending the Netherlands Bach Society.
@@GuilhermeSilva-rp2it my favorite two pieces of music of any genre are the Chopin Ballades #1 and #4. Me whose favorite bands are Zep, Stones, Allman Bros, (old) AC/DC....
Mind-blowing!! Please consider a huge organ version (Wien or Berlin) version of Bach's Toccata and fuga in d minor. Thank you for your enthusiasm, knowledge and wide range of musical taste. I grew up with the jazz sound of Eroll Garner and was young in the musically rich 1960'ies and 70'ies. Loved it. Have just recently met the Bach fuga. Fantastic! Good music is so rich and full of life! Your contribution is much appreciated!!!. A big thank you from Denmark. .
I've gone through life loving the music of J.S. Bach -- he's always been my favorite composer -- but I had never heard of the Netherlands Bach Society and their UA-cam channel, All of Bach. THANK YOU for steering us to it!! It's like a gift from god. A gold mine of music by the greatest composer whoever lived, beautifully performed, brilliantly staged and expertly recorded. I'll continue to watch and enjoy your channel, but you've got some pretty stiff competition here, man!
Mr. B , I was SHOCKED that I was sitting in a blind Turkey 🦃 hunting in Pleasant Valley New York with a friend of mine who quietly asked me if I ever listen to fellow on UA-cam who is a music educator named Rick Beato! I almost kicked over my crossbow as this man is a fence builder and builds automatic gates and has regular 17 hour days and he hunts the fall relentlessly for deer 🦌 yet he is very familiar with your work on UA-cam and finds you to be fascinating musically! This Guy only knows how to play the radio!! I told him that you are the best musician/ music educator that I have ever found and I went to B E R K L E E College of Music in Boston and there were some amazing musicians but none held a candle to Rick Beato !!
The 20 years old Bach employed as church musician in Arnstadt (20km away from Eisenach, his birthplace) applied "educational holidays" to listen to Dietrich Buxtehude a very famous organist and composer in Lübeck more than 400km away from Arnstadt. Bach got granted 4 weeks due to the fact that he had to travel on foot. He met Buxtehude in Lübeck, listened to his virtuos playing and prolonged his "vacation" to four month on his own. Back in Arnstadt four month later his employers were not amused, but kept him employed because even with his 20 years he already was an incredible musician and composer.
Bach was offered to become Buxtehude‘s successor in Lübeck but that would have required to marry Buxtehude‘s daughter which Bach wasn‘t prepared to accept. So Lübeck lost a potential gem in its otherwise rich musical history.
@@achenarmyst2156 Yes, but Buxtehude's daughter was ten years older than Bach. Buxtehude also "offered" to Händel his daughter a couple of years before. Well, a good father takes care of his daughter(s).
That book introduced me to Bach's Das Musikalisches Opfer (The Musical Offering) and I found a recording of all the variations, including a glorious rendition of the 6 Part Ricercar at the end. Unfortunately, I've just looked and I can't put my hands on it right now. (I still have everything on CD!) It'll be in storage. Must hook it out soon.
@@M5225Katy I'll be honest, the chapter on symbolic logic (IIRC) was where I got a bit lost. I still have the book and will give it another go one of these days.
Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and many of the great Classical Pianists not only improvise with the left hand like most accomplished improvisational guitarists, but they also improvise with the right hand. This duality of complex hand movements in an improvisational manner is probably one of the most demanding exercises of the brain. Bach is truly on of the Greatest, along with Beethoven and Mozart.
When I need to reset I listen to JSB, It's like going home. Amidst the daily chaos he puts a harmonious and eternal order. G. Gould and S. Ross keyboard interpretations are above the rest for me. Thank you for this video Rick.
The Well-Tempered Clavier was practice work Bach wrote for his sons to learn to play well. It wasn't even meant to be public music. JSB was a genius for real.
Don't forget the other purpose of the WTC, which was to show that keyboards could play in ALL major and minor keys IN TUNE because of the implementation of equal temperament tuning, something that to that point was impossible.
@@brucestevenson5617 well, impossibly, possibly... you cannot shake that little lemma, you can just spread the pain out evenly (evenly on a logarithmic scale that is, which is fine, because your organ of Corti is also close to logarithmic) actually, nowadays we can do better, using something called continuous tuning - the fundamental frequency emitted by the same nominal key changes and is adjusted to low-integer ratios depending on the harmonic context. the composer specifies this context, or AI pattern-recognises which is best
Cool that you chose the C# prelude! I play that very same piece for my piano class, to show how cool Bach is! The syncopation and suspensions are just exquisite!
I grew up in music my Dad always playing the piano when he retired he started a band The Spa Creek Jazz Band he play in Annapolis Md. He loved playing jazz, I so glad I know music, its so wonderful feeling consumed in song, voice. Thank you you take music to a new level of understanding. Music theory is nice very very nice. I sang in choir in church I so glad I know notes, learning piano when I did. I just love music all types not so much country but its all good for the soul. You so great thank you for what you say and share.
Very refeshing and inspiring to hear you talk about this music. Too many of us are guilty of sticking to modern "popular" music. I recently revisited some great opera. Fantastic stuff.
Listening to Beethoven teaches us what it is like to be Beethoven, to Mozart, what it is like to be human; to Bach, what it is like to be the universe - Douglas Adams
This was a kick on so many levels! It was fantastic to watch you get into and feel the music! Musicians understand that! We goosebump our way through the pieces! A few things...I was a member of a well known Bach Choir for more than a decade. I sang almost everything he wrote for tenor voice. I sang at St Thomas's and it was amazing! I know what you felt when you heard the choir! Also, in the 1970s, I visited Mozart's house and Beethovens house... also visited Neuschwanstein , Ludwig's shrine to Wagner! Man, you gotta make that trip! To walk the streets and the homes of the great musicians is life changing! I can tell by the way you were enveloped by the Bach, that you will be blown away by the experience! I Subscribed! Now I'm gonna check out your other videos!
"Don't be a slave to the keyboard" Bach used to tell his students. One thing that made Bach great was that he wrote music that transcended the 'standard licks' of each instrument. Most of us tend to play figures and shapes inherent and cliche to our instrument.
@@LemonsAndSalt69 He clearly explains what he meant with the 'standard licks of each instrument' remark in the last sentence. Instruments can have different mechanics and tunings which makes certain note groupings easier/harder to play and most people tend to stick solely to what is mechanically easier on their respective instruments and miss out on exploring ideas that might be cumbersome to play. You might see guitar players utilizing half-step modulations much more than piano players since it is trivial to mechanically transpose the same scale a half-step on a guitar whereas it is much more complicated to do so on a keyboard. Another example could be preference for certain chord inversions, string instruments and guitars favor different inversions for playability since one is tuned in 5ths and the other is tuned in 4ths. Or the blues cliche of the "double-stop bend" lick a-la Johnny B. Goode becomes exponentially harder if you try to play the same pattern on the DGB strings rather than the GBE strings. I think the original comment is quite clear and does a much better job in conveying this with a single sentence.
And that's how we wind up with some absolutely ridiculous passages in his organ works. Rapid pedal scales in BWV 532, figures well suited to violin in the Schubler and Leipzig chorales, etc. Definitely not typical organ licks at the time.
I introduced myself to Bach nearly a half-century ago, and it was a kick in the head. And we came so close to losing so much of it. And may I recommend the book "Evening in the Palace of Reason".
An instructor once stated to a class I took that Bach took the entirety of Western music, from when it moved out of the plainchant in the monasteries to his own time, rendered it in the highest possible form in over a thousand major compositions, and put it out there as if to say “Well, what now?”
Exactly what now? Scarlatti I would say, his way of composing opened up new ground, just ask Chopin, Beethoven and Bartok^^ They all mention him as an inspiration somewhere...
Listening to you wanting to visit these historical places, I realize just how much I have taken it for granted that my parents grew up in his hometown, I studied in one if the cities where Bach worked for years and Leipzig was very close to my hometown ... just the neighbourhood. Growing up in East Germany with my parents being into classical music and history, I knew almost everything about him and his generation but knew almost nothing about the musicians of the 60's and 70's that I learned to love after the reunion of Germany. And which I explore in detail through your channel.
I really love Bach's Lute works. He was a very adaptive composer, and wrote for so many instruments. There are some guitar adaptations of his Lute pieces that are great exercises in learning the fretboard
Berenbaum's version (3:05), makes the lower voice easier to hear. As a general principle when listening to contrapuntal music it helps to focus on the lower voice (left hand) because our ear just naturally and without effort hears the upper voice as a melody. When one hears the lower voice at the same time and realizes it is its own melody working beautifully with the upper melody (and not just chordal accompaniment for the upper melody) it can be one of those "how did he think of that?" mind-blowing moments.
'' our ear just naturally and without effort hears the upper voice as a melody.' - that's b/c most of what we know as 'music' (popular music, even the vast majority of classical music) is basically vertical 'blocks' of chords w/ melodic line or 'vocals' on top. Getting into Bach/polyphonic music in general is unlocking the ability to listen to music 'horizontally' and un-learn this conditioning that you call 'natural'
Can you imagine what music Bach would have created had he been born in our time? I’m thinking he would have been the King of Symphonic Metal, and possibly the most sought after composer ever.
I started listening to Bach in high school. I was a guitar player interested in jazz-rock fusion that decided to take an advanced placement music theory class for early college credit. Even though I was way in over my head for the course, I was so glad I discovered Bach. While I do appreciate and enjoy the piano renditions of his music, my favorite way to listen to Bach is through recordings on period instruments. There aren’t as many of those recordings, but they’re out there. Hearing Bach’s fugues on a pipe organ in a massive cathedral is incredible.
Speaking of the grave of Bach ( what I've read), upon his death he was buried in an oak coffin, six paces from the steps of St. John's church in Leipzig. Around 1894 the church was to be expanded so, some graves were exhumed and moved. Three graves were found in the location mentioned before, one being an oak coffin. The skeletal remains looked to be of a man with heavy bone structure, around 5'7" with a rather large skull. Castings were made of the skull and a bust was created of Bach from this. Presuming it was Bach, the remains were interred in a sarcophagus in the basement the above mention church. The church was indeed heavily damaged during WWII and the sarcophagus was also damaged. He was eventually permanently interred in the floor of St. Thomas church.
Great job Rick!! I went to the Houston symphony last night and they played Beethoven's 9th symphony. It was incredible with a full choir and a full orchestra. Three standing ovations!!
Many years ago I saw Virgil Fox at Winterland. The worlds greatest organist playing the worlds greatest composer on the rogers touring organ. It was a life changing experience and is still engraved on my soul.
I think I have that album. Or maybe this is yet another live album of Virgil playing at Winterland (with a light show!). He plays Bach's 'Come Sweet Death' for the finale.
For a truly astounding Bach experience, look up the video of George Balanchine's ballet, Concerto Barocco, which is set to Bach's Concerto for 2 violins in D minor. Balanchine was a musician as well as a dancer- his father was a composer and he wanted to be a composer as well, but realized early on that he was destined to be a composer of dances, not music. Because he was an accomplished musician, Balanchine understood Bach well enough to create a ballet that is a perfect visual representation of Bach's violin concerto in movement.
Because it is at once so extraordinarily logical, ordered, yet so abstract and emotional, while I listen to Bach I feel understand the meaning of life, the universe and the human condition..
Bach's spirituality and how he intergrated this technically into his music is something quite amazing. Not just in obvious examples like the passions but even in some of his organ works
Some of his greatest works were indeed such spiritually inclined compositions, but his crowning achievement focusing on pure music itself rather than anything spiritual in _The Art of Fugue_ is as good as it gets. Contrapunctus 8 in particular is completely mind-blowing, I can't even begin to comprehend how many brains you need the equivalent of to come up with something so magnificent.
So much respect for you because of your musicianship and understanding of all kinds of music. These classical composers were on a different level. I'm an advanced electric guitarist and my Mom was a classical pianist - accomplished. We would talk about how talented these composers were and I asked how did they write such beautiful music and she said those were different times. At times everything has to come together that gives mankind the environment to produce great and heavenly things. The period classical period - about 1700 - 1820 was that time when this incredible enlightenment of music took place. It was the perfect storm. When you look at the music from these musicians, they were GENIUSES IN EVERY WAY. The music was so complex it just blows the mind! My favorite is Pathitique - 2nd movement - it's is just so beautiful. So many greats!!!! Great to see your love of this music. I now know why you are such a great musician. You are The Man!
Thank you, Rick! And I love your insights and enthusiasm for all of the music you cover! Like you, I treasure different interpretations of music by JS Bach, whether for keyboard, violin, cello, some vocal music and concertos, too. His music is so fabulous and so much a foundation for what came after in the European art music tradition. And his art is still immediate to us hearing it in 2022! As a Canadian, still support Glenn Gould's two recordings of the Goldberg Variations, the first from 1955 and the second from 1980, right before he died. And also, I love listening to different interpretations of Beethoven's piano sonatas, string quartets, symphonies, played by different great musicians. Also, I am fascinated by different interpretations of Bartok's string quartets, Shostakovich's string quartets, and so much else, too! Like Stravinsky's ballet scores (from The Firebird to Agon), Mahler's symphonies, etc. Also, there is something very special about hearing all of this music played live, in person, by fine interpreters. I've been fortunate to hear moving interpretations of the St Matthew's Passion, the cello suites, the solo violin music, etc. As well as great performances of music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Schumann, Brahms, Dvorak, Mahler, Bartok, Schoenberg, Janacek, etc. There are great concert series happening all over the world, and hearing this music up close and in person is a special experience. I look forward to your classical music videos, Rick, and thank you for your terrific jazz videos, too! And for all your "What makes this song great" videos, and everything else! Best belated birthday wishes, too!!
My favourite Bach of all time is the 6 part Ricercar from his Musical Offering - particularly arranged for strings. Brings me to tears of joy every time I hear it. For simpler beauty I love Andras Schiff's recording of Two and Three Part Inventions. And of course the two Well-Tempered Piano books (I have Andras Schiff's versions too). Yes, I'm a total Bach fan!
I have been listening to classical music like this every friggin day for a year now,and I discover something new every day, well, almost every day and when he keeps on saying the word "modern". Bach is possibly the best, but there are so many others like Vivaldi that I keep on thinking the same thing. This sounds modern in the sense that it just doesn't age. If you were around in 1720 and heard it, or you are hearing it today, or if your descendants in the year 2525 hears it, it will sound the same and it will be glorious. As long as there are human beings still alive they will hear this music and love it. it is eternal
Next time you go to Germany take the hike the way Bach did to see his inspiration Dieterich Buxtehude. Last I heard it was 250 (m, or km, not sure). The dude did a lot of walking. Reach behind you and grab one of those Gibson's and play some of Bach's Lute Suites to warm up your fingers. I favor his violin concertos, which really gives me chills. WTC is a lofty long-term goal of mine for the keyboard. Not sure of the accuracy, but I heard that Mozart said that Bach was someone he could learn from, and that says a lot. Also heard that Chopin carried a copy of WTC to practice on. Too bad he didn't reflect his practice with his playing, but oh well. I think that Bach planted the seed for western music starting with the classical era, through romantic, all the way to jazz. He played it all
When I listen to Bach, Beethoven or Mozart, I do not waste my time wondering 'which composer is the best'. That is for a very simple reason. While music is composed using reason, it is really an expresion of emotion(s). Which have nothing whatsoever to do with reason, however we choose to rationalise it. As for emotional impact/enjoyment, that is purely a matter of taste, dress it up how you may.
He's great. He's great because people said so. And after people champion a product everyone has to repeat the same thing because it's the popular opinion. Bach - most overrated composer in history.
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Considering Bach invented the circle of fifths, inventing our modern sense of tonality, the modern, greedy, music industry insistence on having a specif progression of chords is Satanic.
Don't forget Antonio Vivaldi (He was Bach's greatest influence).
💥Agree. BACH was a super genius, my favorite composer of all time. 💓
Hey Rick, have you ever written music for a movie, TV show, or streaming show?
@@tedphillips2501 This is not so. Cycles of fifths can be found in Baroque composers 100 years before Bach. While his voice is definitive in what we could call "the modern sense of tonality", it is a stretch to say he "invented it" (try Gesualdo and Marenzio 100 years before him, who didn't "invent it" either.). Fischer's _Ariadne Musica_, with a tonal cycle of keys like the WTC, preceded the latter by decades. Bach is my favorite composer and my life's study, so I'm not trying to minimize his work, but these are hyperbolic overstatements that don't pass the truth test.
Why not classical versions of "what makes this song (piece) great". Would love it.
I wonder if Bach's gonna send him the isolated tracks though
This week on 'What Makes This Song Great:' the artist is Louie Beethoven and the song is the 9th Symphony. BUCKLE UP, KIDDOS!
It probably won't work. We all know Schubert, Liszt, and the boys, will strike for copyright infringement
"Check out Bach's new single: Toccatta und fugue in D moll." 😅
Earlier this afternoon, I watched a very good video on the Music Matters channel that spends over 15 minutes talking about four measures of a single Bach chorale harmonization. Richard Atkinson has some great analyses, too. He did a great video on Beethoven's Grosse Fuge and all the head-spinning rhythmic metamorphoses the themes go through from one section to the next.
When eminent biologist and author Lewis Thomas was asked what message he would choose to send from Earth into outer space in the Voyager spacecraft, he answered, "I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach." After a pause, he added, "But that would be boasting."
Brilliant. 🙂
@@latheofheaven1017 I remember hearing that quote in the past. 100%
Bach only has respect because of the time period. There are 100 musicians alive today that blow him away but no one cares because of the age of social media
@@johnwiz4460 and all of those 100 musicians stand on Bach’s shoulders!!
In his music is the building blocks of just about all modern music, even jazz. He was doing cycles of ii-7-V7s (or even ii1/2dim7-V7 in minor keys) through different keys a couple of hundred years before any jazz musician.
@@johnwiz4460 Bach only has respect because of the time period? Personally, I don't give a monkey's about the time period. I do care about the music though, which is sublime.
A wonderful thing about Bach is that you can listen to the same work a hundred times and still hear a new voice and nuance each time.........
Every time I come Bach to it, I'm astounded! 🤣
Agree
The best of Bach's compositions always make me feel like walking into a room where 100 people are having 50 different conversations, but all of them are circling around a central theme, and as you walk through, so that different conversations come to the fore while others recede into the back, you find that they all fit together perfectly like the most amazing clockwork you can imagine.
Very insightful. A unique language.
This is a unique perspective, would be an excellent play.
ok, ok...
I’m a former violinist and when my professor would audition new students, he’d only want to hear Bach. Technically, there’s nowhere to hide in Bach.
yep. I know that only too well…
Why former? Keep playing! :)
"...nowhere to hide.." LOL Brilliant!
@@funkymystic sadly, rheumatoid arthritis has made a mess of my fingers. 🫤 But I still play when I can ✨
@@tracys694 ah, my heart goes out to you! And, I feel you, I have chronic injuries I have to try to manage as well :/ 🙏
Mozart famously stated: "He is the father, and we are the sons."
Referring to Bach the son, CPE Bach. CPE was much more successful in his time than JS.
@@MasadaBaroque Yes, your detail serves to refine, but not illuminate the meaning of the quote.
@@MasadaBaroque That's because Bach's idea of success wasn't fame or notoriety. So he wasn't well known outside of his small little town in Germany.
@@kelownapianoconsult5354 The influence of Bach is unmistakeable in Mozart's Requiem.
@@kelownapianoconsult5354
You're quite right on this !
The influence of Bach (both, JS and CPE ) on Mozart is often overestimated.
Mozart was first introduced to their music in 1782 by Baron Gottfried van Swieten ,
who was the head of the library of the emperial court in Vienna and was very fond of the then becoming quite old-fashioned older baroque style of composers like Händel, Hasse, Fasch, Johann Sebastian Bach, Friedemann Bach and Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach .
He had good access to their scores thru his contacts to Berlin and Leipzig !
It's reported that Mozart was actually very curious to study the scores Van Swieten presented him and was also quite impressed.
And for a period of time he was even inspired to write a series of fugues, but finished only a few of them.
So his impression didn't last that long, as he probably found that the form of the fugue was not the most important feature for his style !
Maybe his" Fantasy fo Piano" in d-minor was influenced by CPEB to some extend or his "Piano Sonata" in c-minor, KV 475 ...
But in general Mozart's counterpoint technique was more rooted in the Austrian tradition and especially influenced by Johann Josef Fux
( 1660 -1741) , whose textbook for the study of counterpoint "Gradus ad Parnassum" was the unsurpassed standard during the whole 18.century in Vienna and Austria.
Even Mozarts most famous fugue compositions , the Finale of his last Symphony or the double-fugue of the "Kyrie" in his "Requiem" ,
were influenced to a greater extend by that counterpoint style of Fux and other Viennese masters of the time period , more than by the style of North-Germany.
If there was a member of the Bach-family, that actually influenced Mozart, then this would be the youngest son of JSB, Johann Christian Bach, "the London Bach".
The eight year old Mozarr met him in person during his visit in London, and they would become lifelong friends.
And JCB certainly had a greater influence on Mozart in writing his first piano concertos a few years later.
For further information on that topic I would recommend for anyone
interessted
for instance :
the biography of Mozart
by Stanley Sadie ,
simply titled "Mozart",
released as paperbook by
Macmillan Publishers London
in 1982.j
Bach grabbed the code and harmony of the universe and put them into music. Simply as that, but not simple at all.
How Bach's dominion over sound was complete is something that is beyond conception. His control over harmony and counterpoint is above anyone's else. Palestrina, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner... they all deserve to be on the highest pantheon with Bach, but Johann somehow stands out above those larger than life geniouses. To imagine that he was writing all that perfection in a industrial level, in his busy lifestyle, takes Bach to a level in which he is one of the greatest miracles of mankind. He was a phenomenon, a true force of nature.
@@justinlinkmusic 😁👍 LOL
@@justinlinkmusic No, that was Paganini 😆
True. Bach's command of counterpoint in composing sheer beauty....it's mind boggling.
@@justinlinkmusic Since he wrote music for God, most often in the church, he is unlikely Lucifer, who rebelled against God. Bach is like the Jesus through music; a channel for the truth of the universe.
Chopin can stand alone from him because that's getting into impressionist music, catching the spirit or story of a person, place, time
When done well, that stands alone.
Also, makes me think of Monet in the same terms. I like how Monet could do a painting, one could say that it looks nothing like it, but compared to a photographer, it is more accurate in a different way.
The complexity of Bach's music is incredible. Layers on layers on layers of notes, tones and sounds. You can listen to a single composition hundreds of times and still hear something new each time.
Divinely inspired I believe it is.
This is one of the reasons NeuroSurgeon's tend to favor Bach played during brain surgery: Layers within layers, within layers, within layers.
@@Argon1115 HA😂
You play a piece many times and then hear a Glenn Gould recording that reveals voices you never heard before.
BS
I struggle with adhd and my mind is all over the place, listening to Bach brings my mind back to where it can zone in and focus on the music. I am very lucky to be raised on Bach, Beethoven and Mozart knowing many pieces by memory before grade one. Couldn’t play them but could play them in my imagination way back and can still do it. This music has become a part of my dna, and am so lucky that this music will be with me forever.
what a wonder comment
Yeah... Ok
Good on you!
It's very mathematically astute. It's absolute.
I find the World has a struggle with my Autism but the music of Bach 'taps' right in deep. I find Glen Gould is a single entity in my brain very rare; not man and piano. this is not common. If you like jazz I would like to offer a suggestion; Ignasi Terraza I absolutly love his sound ((Swit records) A lot on UA-cam including work with Joan 'Chamero's Sant Andreu Jazz School'.
As a classical and jazz guitarist who's been playing for nearly 4 decades, I have to say the music of Bach is the most challenging and rewarding to play. His lute, cello, violin, and keyboard works are sublime whether it's the short perfections of Anna's notebook to his Chaconne in D minor - it's sheer compositional mastery... The melody, harmony, voice leading, counterpoint, ostinato etc.,
And man did he come centuries before Jazz in his harmonic conceptions and tension resolutions... Just phenomenal. Scarlatti, Telemann, Vivaldi, Handel, Haydyn were all wonderful, but Bach... Astonishing.
He's great.
He's great because people said so.
And after people champion a product everyone has to repeat the same thing because it's the popular opinion.
Most overrated composer in history.
FYI: trolling much? People like Beethoven, . Mozart, Debussy revered Bach. When you and I, FYI, are dust and forgotten, Bach will be played. You know, you're probably an adolescent living in the basement playing mindless video games, thinking comments like the one you made about Bach are so clever. Fyi, they're not. I don't intend to be harsh, but adolescence will pass.
@@fyfyi6053 Who do you like/listen to ?
@@Rod_MolinaBachmann..and why? 😊
@@meenzergunsenum3229 I wasn't asking you.
One amazing thing about Bach is that his music can be played at any tempo. No other composer's music stands up to variation in tempo.
case in point: the very fast version of jesu, joy of man's desiring that was used in the movie boogie nights. It sounds like a classic piece of pop music, but it's Bach
And much of his music works for virtually any kind of instrumentation
And the tempo markings are normally very vague. There are two "allegro" movements in his flute Sonata in E Minor, but the first one is like 84 to 96 BPM, and the second one is 108 to 120. It's just wild, there's a lot of baroque tempi like that.
The magical mathematics of counterpoint. Music really is the universe’s way of communicating with us as Einstein said.
You can remove every other note, and it still sounds like Bach! Sounds good to.
Bach’s complete works takes up 154 CDs! I was once told that if you were to hand copy his works, it would take a lifetime. Bach composed (not just copied) and performed all of it, and raised a large family. Just the sheer speed and magnitude are unfathomable.
The man was truly inspired by God.
@@soakedbearrd - I rather think God was truly inspired by Bach.
@@samuelperez5559 - Good lord.
@@burningoldsage4012 I hope you now understand just how cringy your failed attempt at a witty comment was.
@@soakedbearrd He was inspired by sheer talent and pure genius, god wasn't even part of the equation.
Bach’s unaccompanied violin works are the foundation for classical violinists.
Bach’s keyboard works are foundational for classical pianists.
Bach’s chorales are the foundation for music theory & composition.
Bach’s well-tempered clavier books are the basis for writing music in 12 keys, and the foundation for all Western music since then.
Bach’s cello suites are played by every cellist.
He also wrote the mass in B minor, oratorios, the St. John & Matthew Passions, the Brandenburg concertos, orchestral suites, cantatas, the Goldberg variations, 2- and 3-part inventions, numerous organ works, keyboard concertos, violin concertos, and more (fill in the blanks for me).
The sheer physical task of writing out the music scores would take the better part of a lifetime (no computer, of course). Even his “worst” works are excellent.
Even if you don’t like his music, there’s simply no doubt that he is the most influential Western composer of all time, bar none.
And you forgot the organ. Every organist starts with Bach, and has some Bach in their repertoire.
@@nicholas_scott Yes, it’s hard even to mention all the categories. He wrote idiomatically for every instrument.
@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee I play guitar. Bach has better songs for the guitar than any of the three B's.
Now this is getting to the heart of the matter (and as mentioned, this doesn't even mention his organ output, which is the definitional basis of all organ study and composition since). Didn't mention 200 (extant) sacred cantatas, either. Nor his explorations into the esoterica of canon and fugues, nor his theological acumen and ability to translate that into music. Rick didn't getinto any of this.
@@BernardGreenberg Actually, I did say “numerous organ works”, and mentioned the cantatas. But, the basic idea remains: he wrote a staggering amount of music, in a huge number of genres, for a vast array of instruments.
I have never met a good musician who was not an admirer of dear old Johann Sebastian.
Those who understand music cannot fail to appreciate Bach's great artistry.
He is the one who more than anyone else has been able to combine Formal perfection with the greatest aesthetic beauty - it is the archetype of beauty taking sensitive form.
No! As Bach famously said, "If you play the right notes in the right order, they play themselves." More than a million musicians have become better than they ever thought they could be by learning to play Bach pieces that literally play themselves once we have them memorized. Bach makes us NOT play bad. Sucking should never be used as a pejorative. Bach was the FUN FATHER. He did it for his kids.
“Bach is the best at a thing that anyone's ever been in the history of doing a thing” -Jon Batiste in an interview with NPR
Facts
Emilio, I loved that interview. He was speaking specifically about Invention 13, an incredible masterpiece in its own right.
@@georgerickard4915 oh dope! The one that goes; “dadada dadadada dum-dum dum-dum” lol
Eh... Newton was top tier.
If you belive the silly theory, Bacon is a shoe in for top of his game.
@@nateschultz8973 I get Newton would be in the running. But I think Bach edges him out.
Bach is like a guy who discovered quantum mechanics in his basement while everyone else is dabbling in Newtonian physics.
As a classically trained pianist, I really appreciate you highlighting how fresh Bach is, hundreds of years after his lifetime. I’m inspired by him and by you, as I’m now learning guitar. Thank you!
Every time I open up my copy of Book 1 of the WTK I find myself an hour later completely lost in the majesty of this Magnus Opus!!
Thank you Rick so much for this appreciation you present here. After Bach, Western music was never the same.
If you're a serious musician of any stripe, you should play some Bach.
Classical guitar?
@@folksurvival any instrument, or voice
@@carpediemarts705 ?
Years ago in theory class we analyzed some Bach chorales. Each harmony, when sung by itself was a beautiful melody in its own right. Four 'lead' melodies sung together makes you go, How in the world did he think of this?!? Way to go JSB :-O
I love how Bach just hammers down the bass lines, half steps be damned, plowing through every mode and chord possible to make your head scream and your heart burst.
Bach is in my DNA. I still remember how proud I was when as a teenager studying piano and organ I got skilled enough to play the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, including the pedal part.
BTW, the Netherlands Bach Society project is amazing, I wish I had UA-cam 40 years ago just to watch that channel!
Good for you, inspirational achievement.
You can go mobile scaring bats out of peoples attic.
The genius of Bach lies in the way all those wildly different interpretations sound good.
In a dozen years of piano lessons, the hardest thing for me was the Bach fugues. I just couldn't convince my brain and my fingers to think like five people at once!
That proves that Bach didn't write that music only by himself. There were some people also, people we will never know about.
@@IncredibleGoliath My college professor was an accomplished pianist and he said that the Bach fugues were excellent for developing technique. This seems counter-intuitive, when comparing these works to more technically flashy etudes. But the fine control needed to express multiple voices with two hands and ten fingers carries over to more complex music.
@@jamessmith5748 sorry, but your comment shows that you have no idea what you're talking about.
As an organist (and many organists will agree), the Bach trios (especially the sonatas) are the most difficult Bach works to play. Even though each hand gets a line and your feet get a melodic line, keeping everything together is a pain.
Jack Bruce, Cream's bass player, once said Bach was the master of bass. He knew the rules so well he could break them and the result was genius.
at 62 i just want to play bach's bass line thx
Jack Bruce was one of the best!
I've heard other prominent bass players say the same, including Sting. Bach is indeed the musicians musician if there ever was one.
One of the greatest gifts I was given was an appreciation of Bach. His music is the closest thing to heaven on earth.
I’m a classical musician who came to rock late in life, and I love seeing videos like this. This is what music education should look like. I can’t wait for your Brahms video!
What Brahms should I listen to-say, three pieces? I am not that familiar with him. Other composers, yes; just never got to Brahms.
@@tarnopol Off the top of my head: Intermezzo in A Major, Op 118, the first movement of the Second Symphony, and the second movement of the Requiem (Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Grass)
@@michaellawrencesound Thank you!
@@tarnopol Listen to his piano concerto # 2, his violin concerto, and his symphonies 2 and 4. They will give you an idea of the beauty of his compositions...
Do you like AC/DC?
My father always considered Bach as the greatest composer/musican/genius of all time and at a very young age I understood why.
Hey Rick! Just discovered this episode and HAD to watch it to see how you, with all your experience and understanding of music, would attempt to articulate the genius of Bach.
Your comments reminded me of an experience I had in my Music Appreciation class at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point back in 1980. The professor was brilliant himself. He would play complex pieces on the piano by famous classical pianists while simultaneously explaining the movements, transitions, trills, and melodic compositions. I was mesmerized by his grasp of music theory, music history, the composers, and especially his passion for music as human expression. He held a Doctorate in Music Theory and knew exactly how to explain everything we were hearing...often with our collective jaws dropped at his masterful playing and eloquence.
Then he got to Bach and all bets were off.
I remember him starting to explain Bach, going to a transcendent place with eyes wide open and then stammering through feeble attempts to use words to carry us with him to those places. He was frustrated because he could see that he was not succeeding. It was like he was trying to run with lead boots on. He just couldn't do it in spite of his pained efforts. At the end, he simply asked us to trust him that Bach was perhaps the greatest composer that has ever walked the planet and music masters for centuries have failed to get into his head to reverse engineer Bach's work.
In the book ""Goedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid", Hofstadter" tried to explain the genius thread between these masters of mathematics, art, and music...and how their respective disciplines converged. But even that couldn't quite transcend to worthy heights.
So...stammer and stumble away, dude. Bach is worthy of your attempts! Know that you join the rest of the masters who tried with great difficulty to explain his genius.
Bottom line - yes, Pat, compared to Bach, we all suck.
But if you succeeded in bring metal heads and other rockers into the Bach fold, you did it well. Keep up the great work!
Joe
You may already know that Bach is on the (documentary) "Metal Evolution" family tree at the top of the Pre-Metal root box. Ironic (?) thing is, there was this (alleged) experiment with music and plants by a lady by the name of Retallack. The plants that had baroque played to them flourished, reportedly grew around the speakers; those that were played rock either grew away, died or both. There was also an Italian vintner on "60 Minutes" who played 18th Century music to his crops: "Rock no good-a for grapes. Rock a-no good for people."
Here in Sydney, Australia we have the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra which plays with all period pieces and specialises of course in Bach and many of the Baroque masters. It's always heaven to attend a recital!
Bach is the apex of western music . . . arguably all music . . . My first love in music as a child . . . Very happy to see Rick discuss this!
The first concert I ever attended was the Brandenburg concertos performed by the Los Angeles philharmonic orchestra in 1963 when I was 5 years old. It was amazing and I have been addicted to Bach ever since.
Absolutely. Beethoven called Bach the “Original Father of Harmony”.
Bach’s music is complex, theoretically correct, and yet absolutely beautiful, all at the same time.
I went to Vienna a few years ago, and fulfilled one of my lifetime goals of visiting Beethoven’s graves (yes, there are two - the current one in the Zentralfriedhof, where he was moved in the late 1880s, and his original one in the Währinger Ostfriedhof). I also visited the Pasqualati House where he once lived, along with several other sites he was connected to. It was a high point of my life, for sure. I can totally understand how you felt in Leipzig.
In the Classical period, CPE Bach was regarded as the father.
Not to be missed that all of his music dedicated to the greater honor and glory of God.
Netherlands Bach Society. Fantastic! Yes, your whole life! Thank you Rick. I'm 78 and been stuck on Bach for 60 plus years. So much appreciated your first Bach UA-cam.
Have been to The Netherlands Bach Society's performance of St.Matthews Passion twice. Unforgettable.
goes to show you....even geniuses can be gullible fools sometimes
Let’s not forget, as a choir master at Weimer, Kothen and Leipzig, he wrote chorales, keyboard and orchestral works during his free time; often having to write chorales the week prior to a debut Sunday performance.
That was the first thing that immediately came to my mind when Rick mentioned one of the initial impressions he had when he went to Leipzig was to notice the beauty of the choir in the church..I was about to pause my video viewing just to make a comment on that.. 🙂
not just chorales, but whole cantatas. writing a "simple" chorale would be a matter of minutes for someone like JS Bach
I'm not sure it was his 'free time'... He was contracted to write all of the music for all of the churches. He wrote secular music for a Zimmerman's coffee shop on the church square and I understand it's believed most of this, and his other (small) orchestral music has been lost.
He was contractually obligated to write a new cantata weekly.
I have a 3 CD set of Glenn Gould performing the Goldberg Variations, in 1955 and again in 1981. Both performances are amazing!
Tempo differences between the two are nuts.
For quite some time (not sure if it’s still true) that recording was the best selling classical albums of all time.
What I find miraculous about Bach is that his music is simultaneously bustling and serene.
“Bach was always one of our (the Beatles) favourite composers,” Paul McCartney once said in an interview in 1993.
I remember hearing the first Brandenburg Concerto for the first time as a teen and thinking "Why does it sound like the Beatles?". I got it backwards, of course.
Thousands of comments, but in case you see this: Thank you Rick. This is a beautiful beautiful discussion and so so important for musicians. Bach has had a very very heavy impact on my musical life and I'm so glad you're turning musicians onto Bach. Excellent.
Do more of these. Modern music is boring these days, but the classics are well, classic.
Obviously obvious, and much appreciated.
Time tested. That's why "instant classic" sounds so awful to me.
Check out "Inside Chamber Music with Bruce Adolphe"
"Modern music is boring these days"
harrrrrd disagree on that one
Black Midi, Black Country New Road, Flying Lotus, JPEGMAFIA, 100 gecs, Little Simz, Spellling, Porter Robinson, Death Grips, Iglooghost, Xiu Xiu, MGMT, Kero Kero Bonito, Black Dresses...
Music never stopped being great.
You must be 3 yrs old
I was born listening to Bach, my father and grandfather both played piano and organ. They were both big fans of Bach so I grew up listening to them play his pieces. At the time I never appreciated it, but as I've grown older Bach has become more special to me since it brings a familiarity and warm feeling.
Rick I think the Cantatas are literally the soul of Bach. After about 43 years of studying his music and playing it on piano, I believe they are "it." It actually took me a while to discover them and they really are just mind-boggling. Also the beauty of them is immense.
I wrote my dissertation on Bach and the bulk of it was on the cantatas. Once I went in there I couldn’t escape. Too much light shining in the darkness.
His 54th played at the BBC by Glen Gould is utterly mesmerising. Bach uses such limited lines and a simple theme here yet it expands and blossoms into something really quite astonishing. It starts out with a dominant chord which is either 7th or 11th and then it makes me just sink back as it takes over. I want it played at my funeral along with a few Beatles songs. I wonder if we will ever get another classical guy with such skill and majesty or is it the way we consume music today making this impossible?
I listened to the cantata "Ich Habe Genug" sung by Janet Baker countless times.
It is hauntingly beautiful. I never tire of it.
I also think the cantatas were. His keyboard and instrumental and organ works all seem to have grown from his love of hymns and of singing.
All of Herreweghe's Bach cantata recordings are excellent, including "Ich Habe Genug" as sung by bass soloist: Peter Kooy. It's on UA-cam.
"Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme," BWV 645, for organ is a MIRACLE. Among many.
Nun Dankette Alle Gott BWV 192 with Fox's arrangement is another that just grabs you and shakes your soul. Wachet Auf is like that too.
Andres Segovia’s rendition of Chaconne in Dm is insane. Sounds as it was written for classical guitar when it wasn’t
That piece alone would have put Bach in the history books. I’ve slaved over it for years and never really gotten it anything resembling satisfactory.
true but even as a guitarist I have to give it to the violin version. Check out Hilary Hahns version if you haven't
@@FusicPool That’s yet another amazing aspect of Bach’s music. He wrote completely idiomatically for each instrument, but pieces like this still translate well to other instruments. I mean, you could probably play it on a kazoo it would still sound OK.
Chaconne is outta this world
@@FusicPool it's magnificent. I also love Viktoria Mullova's interpretation of the Partita for violin no 2.
I don’t think anyone has surpassed Bach for depth of harmonic exploration, so subtle, so inventive. Bach laid the harmonic foundations of everything in Western music that has come since.
Your "Compared to Bach ..." line is the current equivalent of Handel's comment: "And then there is Herr Bach: the master of us all."
I was introduced to Bach at Penn State in 1989-1990. I took some classes on music history. The professor used the Brandenburg Concertos as an example of music from the Baroque period. I have loved his music ever since.
Was your prof at PSU Tony Walts? He was my prof there. He's a Yale grad. I learned 16th & 18th century counterpoint from him.
@@tomdemartomdemarreally5878 Actually, I don’t remember his name. I was at the Delaware County campus at the time I took the class.
"The king of music appreciation."
I've just read the phrase above in the chat.
I could not think of a better way to describe Rick in one single phrase.
I am but a serf of music appreciation.
Oh, how I dream of one day being a yeoman of music appreciation.
My most favorite Bach piece is the Alleluja soprano solo from Cantata BWV 51. The way he matched the trumpet with the soprano voice is spectacular. In fact the entire Canata is a masterpiece.
I love his cantatas. Have you heard “wachet auf?”
The sheer devotion to music as a spiritual quest... Bach did it all as a tribute to creator and all of creation. All artists should strive for such purpose in their art.
The great genius of Bach is that he's sort of the first jazzman : his work is so free that any biased interpretation of it can be defended.
You are absolutely right. His great work "musical offering" displays this so well. The story behind it is great. The old master Bach of around 65 is requested for a audience with King whoever I don't care the great. A theme is provided for Bach. A wonderful theme. Extremely chromatic. Almost entirely actually. The king with his peons challenges Bach to write a fugue in multiple parts right there on the spot. You need to listen to it to get what I'm trying to say. Not only did he perform a legendary fugue I could spend 10 lifetimes trying to write on the spot... He then decided to use this theme in every absolute possible way in as many voices as possible. I think it was 8 by the end. He inverted it. Mirrored it... It was absolute genius being displayed. It has to date never been even remotely approached in terms of contrapuntal ingenuity. Just sheer unfathomable genius. It brings me to tears sometimes because it's so overwhelming.
I went to Bach's St Matthew Passion at Easter (a typical dutch tradition). With the opening choir tears start streaming down my cheeks, by Erbarme Dich I had an emotional breakdown. There’s something there that touches your core, your real pain or emotions, something profound happening through Bach's music. There no words to discribe it.
I think the opening chorus is the greatest thing ever written by Bach, maybe by anyone
There is no more sincere, nor more humble request for forgiveness than "Erbarme Dich", to God if you are a believer, to the person you love most in the world if you are not a believer. Our tears are those of our human condition.
Bach was the God of music, absolutely nothing can be compared to him. Even Mozart and Beethoven considered him the greatest.
I honestly believe the best door into the Bach universe are his Violin Concertos.
They have a lush sound, they have fantastic tunes you could even whistle along to.
There's a soloist you can follow and you can cheer for that is not plunking away on a harpsichord or yelling at you with an operatic voice, everybody loves a well played violin.
These works are as harmonically rich and musically relevant as anything else the man has ever written.
Yet they dont make it quite as hard to the unexperienced listener to enjoy it all.
On a different note:
I couldnt agree more, 30 minutes of Bach in the morning makes for a better day.
Its fuel for the brain and soul alike.
Manna from heaven.
Start your next morning with some Bach Violin Concerto, is my advice to a better life.
I love your presenting and commenting on various interpretations of Bach's music by some great musicians. Thank you for recommending the Netherlands Bach Society.
I love my metal, hard rock, blues and bluegrass music but there's nothing like the classics like Bach, Handel, Mozart, Brahms and Wagner.
Try Chopin (everything), Tchaikowsky (specially Violin Concerto opus 35, Piano Concerto opus 23, Nutcracker Suite, Sinphony n6 (Pathetique), Overture 1812, Capriccio Italiano, Dvorak (Cello concerto), Beethoven (everything, specially Piano Concerto n5 - Emperor , Symphonie n6 - Pastoral), Aaron Copland, Grieg/Suite Peer Gynt, Holst (Suite Planets), and many others.
@@GuilhermeSilva-rp2it I prefer Grieg's Holberg Suite over Peer Gynt but both are great.
@@GuilhermeSilva-rp2it my favorite two pieces of music of any genre are the Chopin Ballades #1 and #4. Me whose favorite bands are Zep, Stones, Allman Bros, (old) AC/DC....
@@rogerharris2112 I have to agree. Ballad n1 and Fantasie Impromptu make my ears hair ruffle. Chopin my favorite composer. I love all his stuff.
@@chetthebee1322 Lol only in this comments section could you say that sentence unironically and not be considered a total douche hahah.
I subscribe to the Netherlands Bach Society's UA-cam page. They are recording *all* of Bach's work. Some fantastic interpretations there.
Great channel!
Jos van Veldhoven.... Great emotional performance. Bwv 131 might be too emotional for me. Brings me to tears all the time.
Mind-blowing!! Please consider a huge organ version (Wien or Berlin) version of Bach's Toccata and fuga in d minor. Thank you for your enthusiasm, knowledge and wide range of musical taste. I grew up with the jazz sound of Eroll Garner and was young in the musically rich 1960'ies and 70'ies. Loved it. Have just recently met the Bach fuga. Fantastic! Good music is so rich and full of life! Your contribution is much appreciated!!!. A big thank you from Denmark. .
I've gone through life loving the music of J.S. Bach -- he's always been my favorite composer -- but I had never heard of the Netherlands Bach Society and their UA-cam channel, All of Bach. THANK YOU for steering us to it!! It's like a gift from god. A gold mine of music by the greatest composer whoever lived, beautifully performed, brilliantly staged and expertly recorded.
I'll continue to watch and enjoy your channel, but you've got some pretty stiff competition here, man!
I LOVE the NBS. Their videos are really top-quality and I like all the interviews with musicians, too.
Their Mass in B min is my favourite performance of theirs. See also the musicians talking about the music
@@mozgren Ah yes! It's wonderful.
Mr. B ,
I was SHOCKED that I was sitting in a blind Turkey 🦃 hunting in Pleasant Valley New York with a friend of mine who quietly asked me if I ever listen to fellow on UA-cam who is a music educator named Rick Beato! I almost kicked over my crossbow as this man is a fence builder and builds automatic gates and has regular 17 hour days and he hunts the fall relentlessly for deer 🦌 yet he is very familiar with your work on UA-cam and finds you to be fascinating musically! This Guy only knows how to play the radio!! I told him that you are the best musician/ music educator that I have ever found and I went to B E R K L E E College of Music in Boston and there were some amazing musicians but none held a candle to Rick Beato !!
Rick, I love these videos on classical music. How about a video on Mozart as well? “What Made Mozart Great?”
Not enough time left before the universe collapses.
What made Mozart good ? Ehh??
Rick - I love that you love music so much (and work so hard to share it!)
Love to watch how you really live the music, whether it's classical or rock or whatever genre! Really truly love it! Thank you!
The 20 years old Bach employed as church musician in Arnstadt (20km away from Eisenach, his birthplace) applied "educational holidays" to listen to Dietrich Buxtehude a very famous organist and composer in Lübeck more than 400km away from Arnstadt. Bach got granted 4 weeks due to the fact that he had to travel on foot. He met Buxtehude in Lübeck, listened to his virtuos playing and prolonged his "vacation" to four month on his own. Back in Arnstadt four month later his employers were not amused, but kept him employed because even with his 20 years he already was an incredible musician and composer.
Bach was offered to become Buxtehude‘s successor in Lübeck but that would have required to marry Buxtehude‘s daughter which Bach wasn‘t prepared to accept. So Lübeck lost a potential gem in its otherwise rich musical history.
@@achenarmyst2156 Yes, but Buxtehude's daughter was ten years older than Bach.
Buxtehude also "offered" to Händel his daughter a couple of years before.
Well, a good father takes care of his daughter(s).
A worthwhile read is this great book: "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid"
The most fun I've ever had reading a book!
That book introduced me to Bach's Das Musikalisches Opfer (The Musical Offering) and I found a recording of all the variations, including a glorious rendition of the 6 Part Ricercar at the end. Unfortunately, I've just looked and I can't put my hands on it right now. (I still have everything on CD!) It'll be in storage. Must hook it out soon.
Not a beach read however imho
@@M5225Katy I'll be honest, the chapter on symbolic logic (IIRC) was where I got a bit lost. I still have the book and will give it another go one of these days.
Great book!
I'm not a musician, but I can understand a musical genius when I hear one, Johan Sebastian Bach is one of them
Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and many of the great Classical Pianists not only improvise with the left hand like most accomplished improvisational guitarists, but they also improvise with the right hand. This duality of complex hand movements in an improvisational manner is probably one of the most demanding exercises of the brain. Bach is truly on of the Greatest, along with Beethoven and Mozart.
When I need to reset I listen to JSB, It's like going home. Amidst the daily chaos he puts a harmonious and eternal order. G. Gould and S. Ross keyboard interpretations are above the rest for me. Thank you for this video Rick.
The Well-Tempered Clavier was practice work Bach wrote for his sons to learn to play well. It wasn't even meant to be public music. JSB was a genius for real.
Don't forget the other purpose of the WTC, which was to show that keyboards could play in ALL major and minor keys IN TUNE because of the implementation of equal temperament tuning, something that to that point was impossible.
@@brucestevenson5617 well, impossibly, possibly... you cannot shake that little lemma, you can just spread the pain out evenly (evenly on a logarithmic scale that is, which is fine, because your organ of Corti is also close to logarithmic)
actually, nowadays we can do better, using something called continuous tuning - the fundamental frequency emitted by the same nominal key changes and is adjusted to low-integer ratios depending on the harmonic context. the composer specifies this context, or AI pattern-recognises which is best
Of nearly all of His compositions Someone says, they are only for "educational purposes". Ist If they are Not music in their own right.
@@brucestevenson5617 Bach's keyboard works were written for a well-tempered system, not equal-tempered tuning.
@@hansneusidler7988 The Orgelbüchlein actually is for study, likely as a model for improvisation. In some ways, that collection is a sketchbook.
Cool that you chose the C# prelude! I play that very same piece for my piano class, to show how cool Bach is!
The syncopation and suspensions are just exquisite!
I grew up in music my Dad always playing the piano when he retired he started a band The Spa Creek Jazz Band he play in Annapolis Md. He loved playing jazz, I so glad I know music, its so wonderful feeling consumed in song, voice. Thank you you take music to a new level of understanding. Music theory is nice very very nice. I sang in choir in church I so glad I know notes, learning piano when I did. I just love music all types not so much country but its all good for the soul. You so great thank you for what you say and share.
Very refeshing and inspiring to hear you talk about this music. Too many of us are guilty of sticking to modern "popular" music. I recently revisited some great opera. Fantastic stuff.
Natalie Dessay’s “Miracle of the Voice”
🎵🎵🎵❤️❤️❤️👍
Love your wonderful enthusiasm about all kinds of music, Rick! Agree, Bach is the best.
Listening to Beethoven teaches us what it is like to be Beethoven, to Mozart, what it is like to be human; to Bach, what it is like to be the universe - Douglas Adams
This was a kick on so many levels! It was fantastic to watch you get into and feel the music! Musicians understand that! We goosebump our way through the pieces! A few things...I was a member of a well known Bach Choir for more than a decade. I sang almost everything he wrote for tenor voice. I sang at St Thomas's and it was amazing! I know what you felt when you heard the choir! Also, in the 1970s, I visited Mozart's house and Beethovens house... also visited Neuschwanstein , Ludwig's shrine to Wagner! Man, you gotta make that trip! To walk the streets and the homes of the great musicians is life changing! I can tell by the way you were enveloped by the Bach, that you will be blown away by the experience! I Subscribed! Now I'm gonna check out your other videos!
"Don't be a slave to the keyboard" Bach used to tell his students. One thing that made Bach great was that he wrote music that transcended the 'standard licks' of each instrument. Most of us tend to play figures and shapes inherent and cliche to our instrument.
Epic!
@@LemonsAndSalt69 He clearly explains what he meant with the 'standard licks of each instrument' remark in the last sentence. Instruments can have different mechanics and tunings which makes certain note groupings easier/harder to play and most people tend to stick solely to what is mechanically easier on their respective instruments and miss out on exploring ideas that might be cumbersome to play.
You might see guitar players utilizing half-step modulations much more than piano players since it is trivial to mechanically transpose the same scale a half-step on a guitar whereas it is much more complicated to do so on a keyboard.
Another example could be preference for certain chord inversions, string instruments and guitars favor different inversions for playability since one is tuned in 5ths and the other is tuned in 4ths.
Or the blues cliche of the "double-stop bend" lick a-la Johnny B. Goode becomes exponentially harder if you try to play the same pattern on the DGB strings rather than the GBE strings.
I think the original comment is quite clear and does a much better job in conveying this with a single sentence.
And that's how we wind up with some absolutely ridiculous passages in his organ works. Rapid pedal scales in BWV 532, figures well suited to violin in the Schubler and Leipzig chorales, etc. Definitely not typical organ licks at the time.
I introduced myself to Bach nearly a half-century ago, and it was a kick in the head. And we came so close to losing so much of it. And may I recommend the book "Evening in the Palace of Reason".
An instructor once stated to a class I took that Bach took the entirety of Western music, from when it moved out of the plainchant in the monasteries to his own time, rendered it in the highest possible form in over a thousand major compositions, and put it out there as if to say “Well, what now?”
Indeed a lot of fugues have plainchant-ish themes
Exactly what now? Scarlatti I would say, his way of composing opened up new ground, just ask Chopin, Beethoven and Bartok^^ They all mention him as an inspiration somewhere...
Listening to you wanting to visit these historical places, I realize just how much I have taken it for granted that my parents grew up in his hometown, I studied in one if the cities where Bach worked for years and Leipzig was very close to my hometown ... just the neighbourhood.
Growing up in East Germany with my parents being into classical music and history, I knew almost everything about him and his generation but knew almost nothing about the musicians of the 60's and 70's that I learned to love after the reunion of Germany. And which I explore in detail through your channel.
I really love Bach's Lute works. He was a very adaptive composer, and wrote for so many instruments. There are some guitar adaptations of his Lute pieces that are great exercises in learning the fretboard
Were originally written for Lautenwerke, a keyboard instrument with a large resonant guitar shaped body.
The guitar adaptations by Julian Bream from 1994 are amazing. I listen to them regularly 👍🏼
Lute is amazing - completely ignored and unappreciated
Berenbaum's version (3:05), makes the lower voice easier to hear. As a general principle when listening to contrapuntal music it helps to focus on the lower voice (left hand) because our ear just naturally and without effort hears the upper voice as a melody. When one hears the lower voice at the same time and realizes it is its own melody working beautifully with the upper melody (and not just chordal accompaniment for the upper melody) it can be one of those "how did he think of that?" mind-blowing moments.
'' our ear just naturally and without effort hears the upper voice as a melody.' - that's b/c most of what we know as 'music' (popular music, even the vast majority of classical music) is basically vertical 'blocks' of chords w/ melodic line or 'vocals' on top. Getting into Bach/polyphonic music in general is unlocking the ability to listen to music 'horizontally' and un-learn this conditioning that you call 'natural'
Can you imagine what music Bach would have created had he been born in our time? I’m thinking he would have been the King of Symphonic Metal, and possibly the most sought after composer ever.
He'd be driving a truck.
I started listening to Bach in high school. I was a guitar player interested in jazz-rock fusion that decided to take an advanced placement music theory class for early college credit. Even though I was way in over my head for the course, I was so glad I discovered Bach. While I do appreciate and enjoy the piano renditions of his music, my favorite way to listen to Bach is through recordings on period instruments. There aren’t as many of those recordings, but they’re out there. Hearing Bach’s fugues on a pipe organ in a massive cathedral is incredible.
Speaking of the grave of Bach ( what I've read), upon his death he was buried in an oak coffin, six paces from the steps of St. John's church in Leipzig. Around 1894 the church was to be expanded so, some graves were exhumed and moved. Three graves were found in the location mentioned before, one being an oak coffin. The skeletal remains looked to be of a man with heavy bone structure, around 5'7" with a rather large skull. Castings were made of the skull and a bust was created of Bach from this. Presuming it was Bach, the remains were interred in a sarcophagus in the basement the above mention church. The church was indeed heavily damaged during WWII and the sarcophagus was also damaged. He was eventually permanently interred in the floor of St. Thomas church.
Great job Rick!! I went to the Houston symphony last night and they played Beethoven's 9th symphony. It was incredible with a full choir and a full orchestra. Three standing ovations!!
Such beautiful pieces! I love the feeling I get from them.
I can only smile, and smile, and smile with a deep touch of extacy ... listening to you explaining and enjoying the briliance of Bach. Pure magic.
To me Bach is the Big Bang of music. I never get tired listening to the double violin concertos. Great music.
Many years ago I saw Virgil Fox at Winterland. The worlds greatest organist playing the worlds greatest composer on the rogers touring organ. It was a life changing experience and is still engraved on my soul.
I think I have that album. Or maybe this is yet another live album of Virgil playing at Winterland (with a light show!). He plays Bach's 'Come Sweet Death' for the finale.
@@ratghost25 that was it.
For a truly astounding Bach experience, look up the video of George Balanchine's ballet, Concerto Barocco, which is set to Bach's Concerto for 2 violins in D minor. Balanchine was a musician as well as a dancer- his father was a composer and he wanted to be a composer as well, but realized early on that he was destined to be a composer of dances, not music. Because he was an accomplished musician, Balanchine understood Bach well enough to create a ballet that is a perfect visual representation of Bach's violin concerto in movement.
Because it is at once so extraordinarily logical, ordered, yet so abstract and emotional, while I listen to Bach I feel understand the meaning of life, the universe and the human condition..
Wow! You were right, the Barenboim version of the Prelude is beautiful. Strangely, the use of pedal here actually works to enhance the polyphony.
Bach's spirituality and how he intergrated this technically into his music is something quite amazing. Not just in obvious examples like the passions but even in some of his organ works
Some of his greatest works were indeed such spiritually inclined compositions, but his crowning achievement focusing on pure music itself rather than anything spiritual in _The Art of Fugue_ is as good as it gets. Contrapunctus 8 in particular is completely mind-blowing, I can't even begin to comprehend how many brains you need the equivalent of to come up with something so magnificent.
So much respect for you because of your musicianship and understanding of all kinds of music. These classical composers were on a different level. I'm an advanced electric guitarist and my Mom was a classical pianist - accomplished. We would talk about how talented these composers were and I asked how did they write such beautiful music and she said those were different times. At times everything has to come together that gives mankind the environment to produce great and heavenly things. The period classical period - about 1700 - 1820 was that time when this incredible enlightenment of music took place. It was the perfect storm. When you look at the music from these musicians, they were GENIUSES IN EVERY WAY. The music was so complex it just blows the mind! My favorite is Pathitique - 2nd movement - it's is just so beautiful. So many greats!!!! Great to see your love of this music. I now know why you are such a great musician. You are The Man!
Inspiring as always, Rick thank you so much for your wonderfull videos.
Thank you, Rick! And I love your insights and enthusiasm for all of the music you cover!
Like you, I treasure different interpretations of music by JS Bach, whether for keyboard, violin, cello, some vocal music and concertos, too. His music is so fabulous and so much a foundation for what came after in the European art music tradition. And his art is still immediate to us hearing it in 2022! As a Canadian, still support Glenn Gould's two recordings of the Goldberg Variations, the first from 1955 and the second from 1980, right before he died.
And also, I love listening to different interpretations of Beethoven's piano sonatas, string quartets, symphonies, played by different great musicians. Also, I am fascinated by different interpretations of Bartok's string quartets, Shostakovich's string quartets, and so much else, too! Like Stravinsky's ballet scores (from The Firebird to Agon), Mahler's symphonies, etc.
Also, there is something very special about hearing all of this music played live, in person, by fine interpreters. I've been fortunate to hear moving interpretations of the St Matthew's Passion, the cello suites, the solo violin music, etc. As well as great performances of music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Schumann, Brahms, Dvorak, Mahler, Bartok, Schoenberg, Janacek, etc. There are great concert series happening all over the world, and hearing this music up close and in person is a special experience.
I look forward to your classical music videos, Rick, and thank you for your terrific jazz videos, too! And for all your "What makes this song great" videos, and everything else! Best belated birthday wishes, too!!
My favourite Bach of all time is the 6 part Ricercar from his Musical Offering - particularly arranged for strings. Brings me to tears of joy every time I hear it. For simpler beauty I love Andras Schiff's recording of Two and Three Part Inventions. And of course the two Well-Tempered Piano books (I have Andras Schiff's versions too).
Yes, I'm a total Bach fan!
I have been listening to classical music like this every friggin day for a year now,and I discover something new every day, well, almost every day and when he keeps on saying the word "modern". Bach is possibly the best, but there are so many others like Vivaldi that I keep on thinking the same thing. This sounds modern in the sense that it just doesn't age. If you were around in 1720 and heard it, or you are hearing it today, or if your descendants in the year 2525 hears it, it will sound the same and it will be glorious. As long as there are human beings still alive they will hear this music and love it. it is eternal
Next time you go to Germany take the hike the way Bach did to see his inspiration Dieterich Buxtehude. Last I heard it was 250 (m, or km, not sure). The dude did a lot of walking. Reach behind you and grab one of those Gibson's and play some of Bach's Lute Suites to warm up your fingers. I favor his violin concertos, which really gives me chills. WTC is a lofty long-term goal of mine for the keyboard. Not sure of the accuracy, but I heard that Mozart said that Bach was someone he could learn from, and that says a lot. Also heard that Chopin carried a copy of WTC to practice on. Too bad he didn't reflect his practice with his playing, but oh well. I think that Bach planted the seed for western music starting with the classical era, through romantic, all the way to jazz. He played it all
“In 2019, Bach was named the greatest composer of all time in a poll conducted among 174 living composers”
Wikipedia. I agree.
Yes, but they neglected to inform us they were all hamsters.
@@burningoldsage4012 haha
When I listen to Bach, Beethoven or Mozart, I do not waste my time wondering 'which composer is the best'.
That is for a very simple reason. While music is composed using reason, it is really an expresion of emotion(s). Which have nothing whatsoever to do with reason, however we choose to rationalise it. As for emotional impact/enjoyment, that is purely a matter of taste, dress it up how you may.
I would be surprised if they were not living composers
whiffs of western chauvinism, which isn't to say that Bach wasn't great.
Johann Sebastian Bach, truly the greatest composer that ever lived.
Bach is ranked number 1 supreme composer, Mozart is 2nd, Beethoven is 3rd, the rest is beneath these 3 greats!
He's great.
He's great because people said so.
And after people champion a product everyone has to repeat the same thing because it's the popular opinion.
Bach - most overrated composer in history.
@@mtv565 Vivaldi and Handel are a hundred times better and more innovative and revolutionary than Bach was in your dreams.
@@fyfyi6053 Ignorance is not your bliss.
@@mtv565 You may need to listen to and study more composers...
Great channel, Bach is my favorite composer, love how you played the different pianists with their different interpretations