J. S. Bach Playlist

[Alex K]

The St. Matthews Passion is the giant among the J.S. Bach works, it has everything. But that being said, it's smaller sibling also has a lot going for it, for example a rousing cinematic beginning which is particularly forceful in Gardiners breezy interpretation:

[Shell B]

I don't care what anyone thinks. This is the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnuq9PXbywA

And this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lrv1oR1WU4

The music is so hard to read. Ugh. I have no time to practice at all.

[Alex K]

Me neither. I had the first counterpoint almost nailed, and now work and the kids prevent me from getting anywhere.

The Toccata and Fugue is epic for sure, I myself am partial to the Passacaglia and Fugue (same guy!)

https://youtu.be/nVoFLM_BDgs

[Shell B]

Me neither. I had the first counterpoint almost nailed, and now work and the kids prevent me from getting anywhere.

The Toccata and Fugue is epic for sure, I myself am partial to the Passacaglia and Fugue (same guy!)

https://youtu.be/nVoFLM_BDgs

Amazing. That sounds a little more sophisticated, probaby because Toccata and Fugue is in so many cartoons. Haha

[BrokenQuill92]

I love me some Josh Bell

[Rev. Rye]

The Brandenburg Concertos.





Allegedly, when Nick Drake died, he had this on the record player. Something tells me that when his mother found him lifeless in his bed, that album was still spinning in its locked groove. Not in this recording, more like this one:

[Alex K]

Ah, the old school Munich orchestra, those were the days. Just a coupla years before I was born

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Sometimes, Bach uses dotted rhythms or can be played in what to modern ears sounds like Swing, and that's a lot of fun.

The second counterpoint from the Art of Fugue for example sounds positively Jazzy due to all the dotted eigth notes running all the way through:





A similar effect is obtained by a technique called "notes inégales", which is basically the 18th century dance equivalent of Swing time.

First, the Gigue of the Clavier Partita #6, my favorite piece of Bach clavier writing, in straight time:





And here's the same piece, but played with a notes inégales prescription:





There seems to be a legit controversy about which way the Gigue should be played as evidenced by the fact that two of the greatest Bach pianists of our time differ in their interpretation.

---

Thanks for posting the violin concerto. Have you heard of Joshua Bell's experiment playing the Bach Chaconne in a New York subway? I'll post the piece later...

I love me some Josh Bell

[Deesse23]

I don't care what anyone thinks. This is the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnuq9PXbywA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lrv1oR1WU4

The music is so hard to read. Ugh. I have no time to practice at all.

Im going all in:

[Rev. Rye]

A lesser-known piece, one that probably wouldn't be on my radar if not for a scene in The Seventh Continent where the Schober family decides to kill themselves (after two years [read: two sections of the film] of living dead-end lives) after the daughter Evi responds to the final aria ("Ich freue mich auf meinen Tod") by saying "Me, too."





Also, apparently, this was performed on Easter, despite clearly being meant for the Presentation at the Temple. In addition, there's a scene from his next movie Benny's Video where the title character sings "Trotz dem alten Drachen." Unfortunately, my library does not have a copy of that film, it's out of print, and thus, I have not seen it.

---

Fun fact: Michael Haneke told the producers that he expected that people would be more shocked by the scene where the Schobers flush their money down the toilet (a detail cribbed from a real-life incident that inspired the film) than by their decision to kill themselves. For me, I was most shocked by a scene where the mother destroys a copy of Signs of Life by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. What did the Penguin Cafe Orchestra ever do to them?

---

[BrokenQuill92]

Ah, the old school Munich orchestra, those were the days. Just a coupla years before I was born

---

Sometimes, Bach uses dotted rhythms or can be played in what to modern ears sounds like Swing, and that's a lot of fun.

The second counterpoint from the Art of Fugue for example sounds positively Jazzy due to all the dotted eigth notes running all the way through:





A similar effect is obtained by a technique called "notes inégales", which is basically the 18th century dance equivalent of Swing time.

First, the Gigue of the Clavier Partita #6, my favorite piece of Bach clavier writing, in straight time:





And here's the same piece, but played with a notes inégales prescription:





There seems to be a legit controversy about which way the Gigue should be played as evidenced by the fact that two of the greatest Bach pianists of our time differ in their interpretation.

---

Thanks for posting the violin concerto. Have you heard of Joshua Bell's experiment playing the Bach Chaconne in a New York subway? I'll post the piece later...

I love me some Josh Bell

If I did I don’t remember