More depressing Bach works?

8315 Views 33 Replies 16 Participants Last post by bioluminescentsquid, May 26, 2017

dillonp2020

Discussion Starter · May 6, 2017

I find much of Bach's music very lively, which is magnificent, but not quite my taste. I have only found one Bach piece I truly love--Partita no.2 in D minor-- and I am looking for more like it. If one could make a few suggestions, it would be most appreciated.

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Tchaikov6

· #2 · May 6, 2017

English Suites Nos. 2 and 5- a lot of variety, and I've been enjoying them lately.

Mass in B Minor- Maybe don't start with this, it's very heavy and requires a lot of deep and focused listening (at least for me). But once you get used to Bach, listen to this, and you will be blown away!

Well-Tempered Clavier- If you're looking for "depressing Bach" like you said in the title, there's plenty of depressing music in the Well-Tempered Clavier (try the E-flat Minor Prelude and Fugue in Book 1 to start)

Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor- The outer movements are dark while the inner one is sweet and beautiful.

Violin Concerto in A Minor- Another great concerto.

There's plenty of "depressing" music by Bach, but these are some great starters.

Reactions: 1

Mandryka

· #3 · May 6, 2017 (Edited)

dillonp2020 said:
I find much of Bach's music very lively, which is magnificent, but not quite my taste. I have only found one Bach piece I truly love--Partita no.2 in D minor-- and I am looking for more like it. If one could make a few suggestions, it would be most appreciated.

Some people think this is a piece of mourning music, I agree that it is tremendous. Have you heard the cello suites? If you have spotify listen to the way Dmitri Badiarov plays the second cello suite, which is also in D minor.

But if this is the sort of mood you like, there are interesting examples by other composers. Some of the keyboard music that Froberger wrote may be your cup of tea - maybe check the Naxos CD by Sergio Vartolo, since I think he's very much in tune with the depressing side of Froberger's "death music"

(I can't help but note that the D minor partita is the second in the set, and the D minor cello suite is the second in its set, I've never noticed that before.)

Pugg

· #4 · May 7, 2017

I get the creeps from those heavy organ works......

hpowders

· #5 · May 7, 2017

I think the word "depressing" is the wrong word. Perhaps "serious" is more in tune with what the OP is looking for.

Reactions: 3

Headphone Hermit

· #6 · May 8, 2017

hpowders said:
I think the word "depressing" is the wrong word. Perhaps "serious" is more in tune with what the OP is looking for.

absolutely agree. The solo partita contains some of the most beautiful, uplifting music I have come across. It brightens up one's life ..... 'cleans the ears' as Kleiber is reported to have said.

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hpowders

· #7 · May 8, 2017

Headphone Hermit said:
absolutely agree. The solo partita contains some of the most beautiful, uplifting music I have come across. It brightens up one's life ..... 'cleans the ears' as Kleiber is reported to have said.

Of course, I agree. I myself would never confuse "depressing" with "ecstatic".

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premont

· #8 · May 8, 2017

Generally I find Bach's music uplifting in its seriousness whether sacred or secular. The only piece by him, which sometimes can make me decidedly sad, is the sarabande from the fifth suite for solo cello.

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SONNET CLV

· #9 · May 9, 2017

dillonp2020 said:
More depressing Bach works?

The only thing depressing about Bach works is that there aren't enough of them! I would love to have a couple hundred more Cantatas, several dozen more Brandenburg Concerti, violin partitas, cello suites, organ chorales, masses, motets, violin sonatas ...

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Bulldog

· #10 · May 9, 2017

The Art of Fugue is loaded with serious musical expression.

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Pugg

· #11 · May 9, 2017

Bulldog said:
The Art of Fugue is loaded with serious musical expression.

Agree , but not depressing.

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Bruckner Anton

· #12 · May 10, 2017

Actually, he wrote a lot of religious works that are quite depressing and serious. I would suggest paying special attention to his works in minor keys which usually sound "darker" than major keys. Especially the key of E minor, which Bach use to imply the meaning of "bearing the cross" (because the sign "#" in German is "Kreuz", same word as "cross"). For example, his cantata BWV4 and the opening of the Mathew Passion BWV244 are set in E minor, which are some of his most serious and mournful music.

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Woodduck

· #13 · May 10, 2017

Some of the chorale preludes for organ are very dark, sad and lonely-sounding. Just the thing to have playing when you're confined to your bed with flu on a dark, wet winter day and your wife walks in with a gorgeous hunk twenty years younger than you with ripped abs and shoulder length hair and asks for a divorce.

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Pugg

· #14 · May 10, 2017

Woodduck said:
Some of the chorale preludes for organ are very dark, sad and lonely-sounding. Just the thing to have playing when you're confined to your bed with flu on a dark, wet winter day and your wife walks in with a gorgeous hunk twenty years younger than you with ripped abs and shoulder length hair and asks for a divorce.

This is just the fever speaking I hope?

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Marc

· #15 · May 10, 2017 (Edited)

Well, to me, if slow music in minor keys would be depressing, I would be dead for deacades already.

About the opening chorus of the SMP: I find it beautiful and very moving, but not depressing at all. The closing lines Sehet ihn aus Lieb und Huld / Holz zum Kreuze selber tragen and Erbarm dich unser, o Jesu are expressions of forgiveness and consolation for me. It grabs me in an invigorating way. After listening to it, I want to hear it again.

I've seen cantatas like BWV 56 and 82 often desribed as sad and depressing. Again, I find them uplifting. "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen..." I would like to bear the crossbar with pleasure. Nothing sad about that IMO. BWV 82: about the song of Simeon, who asked God to die because he has never been so happy. "Ich freue mich auf meinen Tod." A bit odd maybe for many modern ears in modern times (I'm not a faithful Christian myself, either), but Bach's music is so convincing to me that I can almost naturally identify with it.

Well, the list could be endless. And not just for Bach. Maybe I would do best to conclude that I do not know of any depressing music, except music that I dislike very much.

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Mandryka

· #16 · May 10, 2017

Woodduck said:
Some of the chorale preludes for organ are very dark, sad and lonely-sounding.

Which ones are you thinking of?

Headphone Hermit

· #17 · May 10, 2017

Woodduck said:
Some of the chorale preludes for organ are very dark, sad and lonely-sounding. Just the thing to have playing when you're confined to your bed with flu on a dark, wet winter day and your wife walks in with a gorgeous hunk twenty years younger than you with ripped abs and shoulder length hair and asks for a divorce.

you should worry when she walks in with a wrinkled wreck twenty years older than you with a pot belly and a comb-over, asks for a divorce and tells you that you can't stay in that bed any longer :lol:

Reactions: 1

Pugg

· #18 · May 11, 2017

Mandryka said:
Which ones are you thinking of?

Like...the most

Marc

· #19 · May 11, 2017

Pugg said:
Like...the most

Funny (NOT depressing!

) how taste in and reception of music can differ.

After listening to f.i. the 18 Leipzig chorales, the so-called Orgelmesse (Clavier-Übung III) and the Orgelbüchlein I always feel strengthened and refreshed.

Reactions: 1

Pugg

· #20 · May 11, 2017

Marc said:
Funny (NOT depressing! ) how taste in and reception of music can differ.

After listening to f.i. the 18 Leipzig chorales, the so-called Orgelmesse (Clavier-Übung III) and the Orgelbüchlein I always feel strengthened and refreshed.

You give the answer yourself, I must admit, not a real fanatic organ fan.
( I dive now)

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