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All of Bach

allofbach.com

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Re: All of Bach

#111

Post by dmoney »

atmosx wrote: post #110

I'm not into classical music, except from the very famous composers and everything Tchaikovsky has ever written (my sister took ballet classes since I can remember myself). That said, what's exactly the reason Bach's work made everyone here so excited? Can't we find these compositions on YouTube? ps. I'm listening as I write. Bach sounds really cheerful :-) Awesome music.

I think it's his use of coutnerpoint and its ability to pleasantly overload the brain. Case in point, Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor. Close your eyes and try to play air organ to this: http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-565/detail/

Re: All of Bach

#113

Post by Intermernet »

catwork wrote: post #20

Bach is great on many counts - I did a visualization ( https://github.com/hadley/ggplot2/wiki/Bach-2-Part-Invention... ) in R awhile back of a Two-part invention that reflects how well structured his counterpoint is.

Have you by any chance read both Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"[1] and Douglas Hofstadter's "Gödel Escher Bach"[2]? If not, meet some kindred spirits!

I love the fact that so much of Bach's music explores numerical relations and patterns. And I've still not heard of anyone creating a piece as complex as his Musical Offering[3] that sounds at all listenable, let alone sublime. Any person who can compose a 6 part fugue is superhuman IMO.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Gently's_Holistic_Detectiv... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Musical_Offering

Re: All of Bach

#115

Post by Intermernet »

atmosx wrote: post #110

I'm not into classical music, except from the very famous composers and everything Tchaikovsky has ever written (my sister took ballet classes since I can remember myself). That said, what's exactly the reason Bach's work made everyone here so excited? Can't we find these compositions on YouTube? ps. I'm listening as I write. Bach sounds really cheerful :-) Awesome music.

I'm biased (I was raised on Bach) but I've always thought that most of modern western music owes an enormous debt to J.S. Bach. He pushed even temperament, was ridiculously prolific, represented music across Europe to the point where he was known as "Grandfather Bach" in some royal courts, and his music was often inspired by patterns, numbers and complex riddles.

There are a huge number of famous musical passages, hooks, licks, etc. attributed to artists from Mendelsohn to the modern day that can be found in just the Well Tempered Clavier. Listen to the second half of BWV857(http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-857/) which is fugue number 12 from the Well Tempered Clavier vol 1. Tell me if you don't hear something familiar there :-)

Re: All of Bach

#116

Post by rspeer »

teoruiz wrote: post #51
rspeer wrote: post #29

This is excellent, thank you. I recently found myself wishing there was a website with curated, high-quality performances of Bach, after realizing how big the difference in quality can be. I ended up working on a Spotify playlist for myself, which I've been editing on and off for months, just trying all the recordings of each particular piece until I found a good one. (The only thing making it possible, with Spotify'…

I would absolutely love subscribing to that list, would you be open to share the Spotify link? Thanks!

Here's what I've got, grouped by broad swaths of BWV numbers:

* 1-224 (cantatas): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/0RkVeCJ3iMVc1My...

* 225-524 (various works, mostly vocal, sorta dull in the 300s): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/2sCCwEMpTXPsOBa...

* 525-771 (organ works): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/1aGTiGWlnSiGNcJ...

* 772-994 (mostly keyboard works): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/4ka3cJd5UCg5EoJ...

* 995-1080 (solo suites and complicated stuff): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/4v8NejHWIKDDSmc...

* 1081-1128 (discovered since the 1950s): http://open.spotify.com/user/rspeer/playlist/5dmTRLVqUi8dB0M...

Of course this isn't close to finished. I'm guessing it would take a year or so, given the rate that I listen to Bach while working.

Re: All of Bach

#117

Post by ajtaylor »

caio1982 wrote: post #31

The performance in video of Toccata and Fugue is just wow! Incredible, to say the least. It's a total must. I've always loved it because it reminds the old gamer in me of Sabrewulf's theme in Killer Instinct for arcades in the 90's. Also, I can't wait for The Well-Tempered Clavier's Prelude I (C Major). It's almost corny these days but it's still such a marvellous piece, it instantly talks to your body and you know t…

I really can't decide if the music, the organ or the performance was more impressive! As the final notes faded away, I realised I had been crying for most of the piece. It was truly beautiful in every aspect.

Re: All of Bach

#118

Post by ajtaylor »

As a family we've been taking a week and learning a little bit about composers. This week was Bach, so the timing on this post was perfect. I've watched two videos so far and was completely blown away! Beautiful music, fantastic camera work and stunning performances by the musicians. This site is going to occupy a Chrome tab for a very long time.

Thank you for posting.

Re: All of Bach

#119

Post by coin »

-1, not viewable on an iPad in portrait orientation. There's a giant popup that covers the entire screen displaying "tilt your tablet" when in portrait mode. Who designs this stuff?
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