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Two recently found works of J.S. Bach presented in Leipzig [video]

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Re: Two recently found works of J.S. Bach presented in Leipzig [video]

#51
post #7

Bach is the greatest composer and perhaps the greatest artist in human history. Full stop. He is able to condense so much complexity into his works, and he speaks to the heart as equally as he speaks to the intellect. He is proof that the mind and the heart do not have to be at cross purposes, but can be wholly engaged together when stimulated by sublime works of art.

That’s debatable. Mozart was good too. But my real OG is Camille Saint-Saens. You want dark and moody? Light and fluffy? Dazzles and sparkles? He’s your man.

Nah Bach shits on Mozart. Mozart make extremely catchy music like Justin Beiber. I seriously do love mozart, but he merely wrote music. Bach weaved math into his music more than anyone before or after. His music sounds dense and more multi dimensional than mozart or saint saens. It really doesn't sound like he was trying to write beautiful music ( even though it is ) , it sounds like he was solving an equation and just writing out the answers as a harmonic sequence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmsNH8t25ck - This guy is like 95 and still shredding on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1xJoVzoIQg

Re: Two recently found works of J.S. Bach presented in Leipzig [video]

#52
post #7

Bach is the greatest composer and perhaps the greatest artist in human history. Full stop. He is able to condense so much complexity into his works, and he speaks to the heart as equally as he speaks to the intellect. He is proof that the mind and the heart do not have to be at cross purposes, but can be wholly engaged together when stimulated by sublime works of art.

Interesting to read that the complexity in his music is praised and seen as speaking to the intellect, whereas that is not the case when it comes to complexity in software.

complexity in software is invisibly-preceded with "unnecessary", and usually indicates software that is difficult to maintain or even to verify its behavior. A really cool software architecture can scratch a similar itch as a good fugue, but that's not its typical function nor is it the way we usually engage with software professionally.

Bach's complexity, incidentally, is seldom "for its own sake" - the pieces all fit together beautifully and without extraneous movement. Contrast that with some lesser works by later composers like Liszt, where you often get the sense that a given passage could be reduced or removed without harming the work.

Re: Two recently found works of J.S. Bach presented in Leipzig [video]

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s debatable. Mozart was good too. But my real OG is Camille Saint-Saens. You want dark and moody? Light and fluffy? Dazzles and sparkles? He’s your man.

Danse macabre is a true masterpiece. Incredible composer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce8CDz9PUfs

Re: Two recently found works of J.S. Bach presented in Leipzig [video]

#54
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s debatable. Mozart was good too. But my real OG is Camille Saint-Saens. You want dark and moody? Light and fluffy? Dazzles and sparkles? He’s your man.

Nah Bach shits on Mozart. Mozart make extremely catchy music like Justin Beiber. I seriously do love mozart, but he merely wrote music. Bach weaved math into his music more than anyone before or after. His music sounds dense and more multi dimensional than mozart or saint saens. It really doesn't sound like he was trying to write beautiful music ( even though it is ) , it sounds like he was solving an equation and ju…

See, music isn’t just math, it’s feel. I guess that’s why I dislike him the way I do. It’s too robotic.

Truth is, they were ALL Justin Bieber. It’s all pop music of the time.

Re: Two recently found works of J.S. Bach presented in Leipzig [video]

#55
post #7

Bach is the greatest composer and perhaps the greatest artist in human history. Full stop. He is able to condense so much complexity into his works, and he speaks to the heart as equally as he speaks to the intellect. He is proof that the mind and the heart do not have to be at cross purposes, but can be wholly engaged together when stimulated by sublime works of art.

Do you have any particular pieces in mind when you wrote this? Bach is impressive, no doubt, but to each their own perhaps. I acknowledge that I have not received the appropriate training to fully appreciate the complexity in his works, so I wish I could hear what you do. To my ear, (and this isn't a novel opinion in the slightest), I think the Baroque era was more limited in expression due to the inherent limitation…

Try this one on for size

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce8CDz9PUfs

Re: Two recently found works of J.S. Bach presented in Leipzig [video]

#56
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Carnival of the Animals is better… Aquarium was my sons childhood theme song

Organ symphony and piano concerto for me.

Someone yells from the back “What about the cellos?” :D

Re: Two recently found works of J.S. Bach presented in Leipzig [video]

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't like it, that's fine, I won't argue over taste. But your other descriptions of Bach's life deserve to be fact-checked. > He was a nepo baby with a big purse. His brothers, his family, all musicians of note for prominent figures of society. However, his leaning on his long history of music within the family helped polish his work as structured which helped sell it. This interpretation is not particularly…

He was known as an organist until the 18th century when someone decided to lump him in with the greats. His works were polished. Yes, he dedicated his life to music - but that’s also where his tenure started. Baroque style borrowing from others and making “commercial” music of his day. He was a nepo baby by our standards. His older brother that raised him wasn’t a Duke, but wasn’t poor either. He went to the best sch…

He wasn't so "commercial" because he was doing more complex and countrapuntal music after it was falling out of fashion, and he never did an opera, which was all the rage.

Re: Two recently found works of J.S. Bach presented in Leipzig [video]

#58
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cut my teeth on Bach on Cello when I was 7. By the time I was in high school I could play all the instruments. I still don’t consider Bach to be the genius everyone says he was. He was a nepo baby with a big purse. His brothers, his family, all musicians of note for prominent figures of society. However, his leaning on his long history of music within the family helped polish his work as structured which helped sel…

> He was a nepo baby with a big purse. Interesting interpretation of "he was orphaned at 10 and left with nothing and had to go and live with his brother".

His father had lots of children, 4 of which became musicians, of which JSB was the last child, the baby. Barbara Margaretha tried to take the family purse (having already been twice widowed). JSB was “orphaned” but his older brothers were adults. Let’s be real.

(Who gets married and dies 3 months later?)

Re: Two recently found works of J.S. Bach presented in Leipzig [video]

#59
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah Bach shits on Mozart. Mozart make extremely catchy music like Justin Beiber. I seriously do love mozart, but he merely wrote music. Bach weaved math into his music more than anyone before or after. His music sounds dense and more multi dimensional than mozart or saint saens. It really doesn't sound like he was trying to write beautiful music ( even though it is ) , it sounds like he was solving an equation and ju…

See, music isn’t just math, it’s feel. I guess that’s why I dislike him the way I do. It’s too robotic. Truth is, they were ALL Justin Bieber. It’s all pop music of the time.

[deleted]

Re: Two recently found works of J.S. Bach presented in Leipzig [video]

#60
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any particular pieces in mind when you wrote this? Bach is impressive, no doubt, but to each their own perhaps. I acknowledge that I have not received the appropriate training to fully appreciate the complexity in his works, so I wish I could hear what you do. To my ear, (and this isn't a novel opinion in the slightest), I think the Baroque era was more limited in expression due to the inherent limitation…

You should listen to Hilary Hahn's renditions of Bach's partitas and sonatas. She brings out the subtleties of Bach's composing beautifully, and the purity of his music is easy to appreciate in these solo pieces. https://inv.nadeko.net/playlist?list=PLor_18TcpRrxQmne5_SKRy... (YouTube proxy)

Lately lots of japanese players have been tearing it up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZFOhkGGr8A
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