I recently bought the complete works of Bach on Brilliantclassics and I have already listened to two thirds of the 155 CDs. By "listened", I mean that I sat, disconnected all phones, did not read anything, and listened.

Bach's music is breathtakingly beautiful and eternal. At least for me.

I do understand that others may question that, or be annoyed by Bach's undisputed status. I am myself annoyed with Mozart's undeserved status. I have a 30 y.o. French music encyclopedia, and the entry for Mozart starts with these words: [translation] "The greatest musician of all times." That, I really find annoying.

Laugh.

I find that post entertaining for a bunch of reasons.

I am debating between the Bach and Haydn brilliant sets since I have the Mozart one already. I have a fair amount of bach, but I think I want it all.

I have a hard time picking between Bach and Mozart, who, in my tiny little brain - represent at the very least, a substantial protrusion of unique genius into the world - not to mention original thought which is more rare than people believe. Apples and oranges however. It seems to me they are as far apart as one could possibly imagine - and yet both produce what I see as beauty incarnate. quite a feat.

Mozarts 'undeserved status'? (grin)... dont get me started. The man is unmatched.

A commoners pedestrian comment perhaps - but I think the Brandenburgs among the top handful of musical constructions I have ever heard. Bach was operating on an entirely different plane than everyone.

I just noticed something. It says musician and not composer.

I think it very likely that Mozart was indeed the greatest musician.. he had simply an inhuman talent. Greatest composer? I think that a bit more up to debate.

I would say that Bach may have understood the craft of making music and composition better than... well just about anyone. *certainly* up to his own time, though I am unqualified to say 'certainly' about anything.

Well honestly, Bach pretty much single-handedly ended the Baroque era, as he was bringing every form to its utmost perfection (and the proof is indicated that the only form he never wrote in - opera - reached its utmost over 150 years after his death, in the works of people like Wagner and Richard Strauss.

I definitely place Bach on a higher level than Mozart, because even though Mozart was perfect in form and grace and beauty, Bach knew how to dispose with those and still make something utterly perfect in every way.

__________________
"Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n
wirst du, mein Herz, in einem Nu!
Was du geschlagen
zu Gott wird es dich tragen!"
-Gustav Mahler

For me the most exciting Bach piece is the Cantata No. 80 Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott . A version I once had on tape used trumpets to good effect. I later learned that the trumpets were added by one of his sons, but they punctuate the proceedings so well.

One of the sectionss had marvelous trumpet trills that accentuate an almost dissonant section of the phrases. It just sounds weird for baroque and never failed to amaze me.

I do have a version of this Cantata in my collection, but a version that stays truer to the elder Bach's score, using oboes instead of trumpets. It's still fantastic, but I'd dearly love to get my hands on the more bombastic version. It may even have had timpani, but I may be misremembering.

I'd would easily put J. S. Bach in the category, if not the greatest composer, of having the greatest body of work. Those "complete works" series tempt me so, but I know my Bach collection can never be complete until I no longer hear. I have yet to hear The Art of the Fugue played on banjo and tuba ensemble for instance.

Inicidentally, have we all settled on BWV now instead of S for the catalog numbers? It was "S." when I first got into Bach.

Does anyone else think he's GOOD ???

The quetion is : Does anyone think he isn't GOD!?

...um.... I see a trend here.

Or was he ???

Yep me, He existed and was not a figment of the imagination

*GASP* HERESY!!!

On the subject of the Brilliant Classics collections, which would you think is better for someone just starting in classical music, The Mozart Collection, Beethoven Collection, or Bach Collection?

Bach is definitely one of the greatest geniuses. I was reading about him and prior to my reading I had no idea that he actually developed the, was it the well tempered system? Sorry I forgot the name.

Not only was he a musical genius, but a mathematical genius considering he came up with so many theoretical rules which are very mathematical. Well, in my opinion at least.

Well I'm slightly partial to Bach (read: I basically revere almost everything the man wrote), so I'll put my vote in for him. But there is, I think, a good reason.

Mozart wrote masterpieces in basically every genre, and Haydn' symphonies, string quartets, oratorios, and masses are divine compositions. But both Mozart and Haydn wrote a lot of mediocre music. Many of Mozart's divertimenti and serenades, for example, would by complimented if I called them easy listening pieces. The same goes for some of Haydn's piano sonatas.

With Bach, though, almost everything he wrote has some merit. True, he didn't have a perfect batting average, but his great work/poor work ratio is far higher than that of other composers.

So go ahead, flame me if your a Wolfgangist or a Franz Josephile...but that's my two cents.

__________________
Take a look at the Bandit's blog, The Classical Corner.

Hmmmm maybe I'll go with the Bach. I'm a young composer and I'm looking for classical music to learn from and get inspired from, so Bach would probably be best for that?

I would suggest haydn for that.

However, you will gain something from any of those sets. There is no right answer.. go with your gut and follow your intuition.