RE: J. S. Bach Playlist
November 20, 2019 at 5:28 pm
(This post was last modified: November 20, 2019 at 6:17 pm by Alex K.)
(November 20, 2019 at 5:08 pm)The Valkyrie Wrote: Arnie’s favourite composer.
Really? I didn't kn…
oh you
Now, to keep the theists happy after this secular work, now something sacred.
What I find absolutely amazing in this bit from the St. Johns Passion - apart from Quasthoff who is a great singer - is how a chorale sung by the choir is interwoven with the main theme sung by the soloist. It serves as a striking carpet of sound providing some epic harmonies amplifying the hopeful yet anxious content of the lyrics (tell us, are we finally free from death?), while being a full chorale in its own right engaged in a dialogue with or commentary of the soloist's singing.
btw. if you are wondering why the camera frames Quasthoff so strangely, he's a Thalidomide victim with malformed arms. This posed a significant problem in his early career because for a music degree it is usually required that one studies a second instrument.
Now to a big one.
This is, in my book, the greatest secular piece of music, namely the "unifinished" final counterpoint from The Art of the Fugue. It is often played on a keyboard instrument of some sort, but there exist many interpretations for ensembles of various types. Among my favorites is the version by Canadian Brass, but here's an equally stunning performance by a sadly defunct German ensemble for old music.
Towards the end, Bach has left his signature in the music by introducing an odd theme beginning with the notes B flat, A, C, B which in German music notation are spelled B, A, C, H. It starts exactly at 6:36:
https://youtu.be/JbM3VTIvOBk?t=389
The music ends mid-theme, and his son C.P.E.Bach wrote on the manuscript: Bach died writing this music. This may actually be a slight dramatization by C.P.E. as J.S. Bach had been working on various other things in his final days. It is even possible that J.S. left the ending out on purpose as a horrifically difficult assignment to the Reader, an ultimate boss move: Completing the unfinished fugue by adding the obviously missing first theme. Several composers have tried with some nice results, none have managed to quite keep up with the sublime quality of J.S. Bach's part.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
