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Johann Sebastian Bach

82K views 427 replies 153 participants last post by  gprengel 
#1 ·
You all knew it would happen eventually: the most superfluous thread ever made for this board. The greatest contrapuntal genius of all time. I've heard it said that, while among the public there are Mahler cults, Sibelius cults, and Brahms cults, there is among the composers a Bach cult. Not to say there isn't a Bach cult among the public, it's just that the great composers all worshiped the guy. It is genuinely worthless to try singling out some of his greatest pieces; if you pick out about any five of the more than one thousand published works, I will guarantee that at least three, if not all, will be masterpieces.

Although *cough, cough* the B minor Mass is considered to be the greatest and most perfect composition ever written in history, not to mention the Art of Fugue, Goldberg Variations, several hundred choral works, preludes, solo violin sonatas, solo cello suites, violin concerti, transcriptions of other peoples' work, harpsichord concerti, Well-Tempered Clavier....
 
#295 ·
Recently I Fell In Love With Bach's Brandenburg Concertos.



I've Listened To These Recordings And All of Them Were Amazing . If You Know Any Other Good Recording Of Brandenburg Concertos , Please Do Recommend Them :)
 
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#298 ·
If You Know Any Other Good Recording Of Brandenburg Concertos , Please Do Recommend Them :)
I really like the Alessandrini, but two other favourites are:

Font Rectangle Poster Art Electric blue


Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin

Organism Fluid Font Poster Knee


Diego Fasolis, I Barocchisti. (This comes in two volumes, one for Concertos 1-4 and the other for Concertos 5 and 6. I've customised the "Volume 1" cover so I've got one album containing all 6 Brandenburgs on my iPod.)
 
#300 · (Edited)
I used to find Bach so boring when I was a kid. At the time, HIP inspired performances were virtually non-existant.

Now Bach is one of my favorite composers, as I adore HIP performances of Bach's solo keyboard works performed on replicas or restorations of 18th century harpsichords by the likes of Kenneth Weiss, Trevor Pinnock, Gustav Leonhardt and Blandine Rannou.

I also enjoy the solo violin sonatas and partitas performed on baroque violin by John Holloway and Sigiswald Kuijken.

From uninspired Bach playing to HIP. Made a believer out of me!
 
#313 ·
Last night we saw a performance of the Goldberg Variations by the American pianist Simone Dinnerstein. The music was accompanied by a troupe of seven modern dancers—an interesting combination, to be sure. Although at times I found the dancers to be a bit of a distraction, the musical performance was absolutely top-notch. She played the work faithfully and with plenty of emotion. I don't think I could ever tire of hearing that work. Hearing the aria alone was worth the price of admission.
 
#314 ·
Only one month left for the next release of Philippe Pierlot / Ricercar Consort cantatas:



In my opinion Pierlot is the best conductor using OVPP choir with outstanding vocal cast such as Carlos Mena, one of my favourite counter-tenors and the tenor Hans-Jorg Mammel. Ricercar Consort also comprises some of the best musicians especialized in early german baroque sacred works. They have great qualities that are appreciated in Bach cantatas performances: clarity and precision in each of the contrapuntal lines, whose blending sounds almost effortlessly contrived. Ricercar Consort is my reference for Buxtehude sacred works, Schütz, Sebastiani and Bruhns.
 
#324 ·
For lack of another non-specific Bach thread with recent posts...

For those who can read German: in the current issue of the German weekly newspaper „Die ZEIT“ you can find a special on Bach that is, IMO, excellent and definitely worth checking out.

Well, currently I just own a selection of Bach‘s organ works performed by Helmut Walcha and the Brandenburgs performed by the English Concert with Trevor Pinnock. Will have to dig into the threads here to find the next item to be purchased and enjoyed... Right now, St. Matthew Passion seems fitting.
 
#325 ·
On today's date, August 5, from an e-mail:
------------------------------
Today’s date marks a “good news, bad news” anniversary in the life of Johann Sebastian Bach. On today’s date in 1717, Bach was appointed as the new Kapellmeister at the Princely Court of Leopold of Coethen. Since the young prince was an avid music-lover, and offering Bach a much higher salary than his present one, that counts as “good news.” The “bad news” related to Bach’s previous employer in 1717, namely the Duke of Weimar, who was not exactly pleased that Bach had accepted a new job offer. The Duke, in fact, flatly refused to let him go. Real or imagined court intrigue in Weimar complicated the matter, and the Prince’s “poaching” of Bach might have been perceived as just another indirect slap at the Duke maneuvered by a long-standing family feud. The upshot was that Bach was put on the Prince’s payroll effective in August of 1717, but the Duke didn’t accept Bach’s resignation until five months later, and then only after throwing Bach in jail for almost a month to teach him a lesson, or, as the court secretary put it, “for too stubbornly forcing the issue of his dismissal.” In an age when Dukes and Princes could do as they pleased, it appears giving two weeks’ notice was a tad more complicated than it is today!
 
#326 ·
Mostly a profile of the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, punctuated with airy comments about the cello suites:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/arts/music/yo-yo-ma-bach-suites.html

It's an enjoyable article. There was a time when I thought his reputation became overblown and his emotive style annoyed me, but with time I've come to admire his playing more and more. Sort of like how I feel about Cher, come to think of it--if people are just going to keep doing their thing into their old age, I can't help but like them.
 
#327 ·
Finally, after years of deliberate waiting, I've started to listen to the cantatas of Bach. Of course I have listened to huge amounts of Bach's music throughout the years, especially his instrumental works, but his greatest genre has felt like too big a challenge up until now.

I'm sure this'll be a journey that lasts a lifetime. How lucky I am to be able to have something this beautiful in my life...
 
#328 ·
My experience is that the Bach cantatas journey is a long one, but the further you travel with them, the more you marvel at them. When I started this journey, only one "complete" set was available, now I have so many that I need a database to find the cantata I want and am spoilt for choice.
 
#329 ·
I'm a newcomer to the music of Bach (& classical/baroque music in general). Up until a couple months ago just about the only thing Bach meant to me was the lute suites which I've loved for years (I'm a guitar player) & the organ toccata & fugue in D minor which I've always known to be a badass piece of music. But after hearing Glenn Gould's 1955 Goldberg Variations and becoming obsessed (typical story I'm sure) I've made sure to dig a lot deeper into his music than I had before, especially his keyboard music which is all nothing short of genius, if that at all needs to be said. Since then András Schiff has become my favorite player of his works. The Partitas in particular he plays masterfully and I listen to at least one disc of that set first thing in the morning every day lately. His Goldberg Variations are great too and in a style pretty far removed from Gould's spare version. I also recently picked up Keith Jarrett's Well-Tempered Clavier set which I have not really warmed to yet, though I've been a huge fan of Jarrett's jazz music (if that's what you want to call it) for years and never knew he played Bach until a couple days ago.

I know it's probably anathema to some here but Bach on the modern piano is great. Schiff himself talks about his rationale behind playing on modern pianos in this great video:



Who are some other pianists that y'all think do a good job with Bach's keyboard works? Does anyone have a favorite take on any of the keyboard pieces I've mentioned played on period instruments? Can't wait to get further into his massive body of music.
 
#330 · (Edited)
The pianist who really thought through from scratch how to put Bach on a modern piano is called Wolfgang Rubsam, who recorded suites and partitas on Naxos. All the rest more or less come from a tradition of playing Mozart, Chopin and Beethoven and tend to treat the sort of music Bach wrote as if it were much the same sort of thing, which may not be the best way to do it justice.

In fact it's probably worth knowing that Bach was familiar with pianos, it's just that as far as we can tell he didn't write any keyboard music for them, or not much. The pianos of his day were a bit different from modern ones, more percussive, and you may like to try some performances of his music on one of them. There is, for example, a good Goldberg variations by a pianist called Walter Riemer.

As far as original instruments is concerned there is one which in a way which is very like a piano, called a clavichord. It's got lots of colour and allows some dynamic variation too. It was never popular for concerts and stuff like that, because it's very quiet, Of course the quietness is less of an issue on a stereo because you can pump up the volume if you want. In Bach's time people used it for playing at home or for practising. There's a recording of Bach's Inventions and symphonias for keyboard which uses a clavichord, I like it very much, it's by a musician called Jaroslav Tuma.

But the main authentic instrument for the suites is a harpsichord. And you can do no better in Bach IMO than to try something like The Well Tempered Clavier played by a great harpsichord player like Richard Egarr, Gustav Leonhardt, Glen Wilson, Bob van Asperen and so on and so forth.
 
#331 · (Edited)
Here are some of my favorite digital era (or nearly so) recordings of Bach's keyboard music played on a piano, most of which you can listen to for free on You Tube:

Virginia Black--6 Partitas: )

Andrea Bacchetti--6 French Suites--Sony:

Dubravka Tomsic:
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Italian...d=1547504510&sr=1-1&keywords=tomsic+bach+pilz

Alfred Brendel:
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Italian...8&qid=1547504577&sr=1-1&keywords=brendel+bach

Amandine Savary--Toccatas:

Glenn Gould--I generally like Gould's last Bach recordings best--the Toccatas: , and Preludes, Fugues, Fughettas, and 1981 Goldberg Variations, and so did he: .

David Fray--Partitas 2 & 6, & Keyboard Concertos:





https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Keyboar...UTF8&qid=1547504600&sr=1-2&keywords=fray+bach
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-concert...UTF8&qid=1547504600&sr=1-1&keywords=fray+bach

Evelyn Crochet--Well-Tempered Clavier Books 1 & 2:

Ivo Pogorelich--English Suites 2 & 3:

Maria Joao Pires:




https://www.amazon.com/Maria-João-P...7522392&sr=1-4&keywords=maria+joao+pires+bach

Ivo Janssen (if you find that you like Janssen's Bach, he has recorded a complete box set on the VOID label):

Goldberg Variations:
The Art of the Fugue:

Edward Aldwell:

6 French Suites: (1-3) , (4-6)
Well tempered Clavier Books 1 & 2:


French Overture & selections from the Art of the Fugue:
Goldberg Variations:

Vladimir Feltsman--Two & Three Part Inventions & 6 Partitas:




Angela Hewitt--Art of the Fugue & Toccatas:



Murray Perahia--Goldberg Variations, etc.:

Tatiana Nikolayeva:

Two & Three Part Inventions:
Goldberg Variations:https:
Well-Tempered Clavier, Books 1 & 2:

If sound quality isn't a big deal, I'd suggest that you also sample the Bach playing of some of the older, historic pianists too, such as Samuel Feinberg: , Roslyn Tureck, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, & Sviatoslav Richter (though Richter also recorded into the digital era):

To sample Bach's keyboard music played on a harpsichord, I'd recommend that you look into the recordings by Bob Van Asperen (Well Tempered Clavier Books 1 & 2:, 6 French Suites:, 6 English Suites, etc.), Gustav Leonhardt (6 French Suites, Art of the Fugue, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5: ), Pascal Dubreuil (6 Partitas: , English Suites, etc.), Leon Berben (WTC, Fantasias), Pierre Hantai (Goldberg Variations: , Keyboard Concertos, etc.), Pieter-Jan Belder (6 Partitas), Christian Rieger (Art of the Fugue), Fabio Bonizzoni (Goldberg Variations, Art of the Fugue, Keyboard Concertos Vol. 1), Christophe Rousset (6 English Suites: , & 6 French Suites), Ton Koopman (Keyboard Concertos, etc.), Ottavio Dantone (WTC Book 2), Trevor Pinnock (6 Partitas), Matteo Messori (Art of the Fugue), Blandine Rannou (6 French Suites, Goldberg Variations), and Davitt Moroney, Karen Flint, Arthur Haas & other harpischordists in a complete set of Bach's Keyboard Concertos played on antique instruments:

Of course, the copious amount of suggestions above are meant to be explored over time, at you leisure.
 
#332 ·
I'll be coming back for sure. Thank you to the last two posters for all the diverse suggestions.

I've heard Bach's keyboard instrument of choice was the clavichord (specifically, Schiff talks about it in that video I linked) so it would be interesting to hear his music played on one of those. I always thought it was more like a harpsichord than a piano, but I guess that goes to show my ignorance. I'm not too big on the sound of the harpsichord (as a solo instrument; it is cool as a continuo (if I am using that term correctly) in some of the more period-sounding recordings I have) but I bet I could warm to it over time like anything else.
 
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